Australian cricket is not short of controversy and the latest in the string is about the baggy green cap as players of present and past debate how seriously it should be taken.Captain Ricky Ponting and former skipper Ian Chappell have stark opposite views on how much respect should be shown to the baggy green after the national team, currently touring the Caribbean, wore blue sponsor's caps in a warm-up match against Jamaica XI and Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland had to apologise for the 'mistake'.While Ponting described it as a "precious" and "cherished and valued thing", Chappell, who retired in 1980, felt the baggy green was being overly glorified since the days of Steve Waugh and termed it as just a "dollar five piece of cloth".Ponting in his latest column for The Australian explained that under the changed policy of the CA, a cricketer does not own a baggy green until it is presented to him by another player on the morning of his Test debut."There has been an evolution in what the baggy green means to the Australian team and I would argue that there has never been a time when it was more respected. There was a time when the baggy green cap was handed out at will. When former players started selling them at auctions things had to change. The player group was not happy with it, it was undermining their symbolic value, so Cricket Australia changed the policy."I think some of the former players who criticised us thought we were still operating under the old system. Today it is a Test cap and it is a cherished and valued thing," he said.Ponting said the cap was a record of one's Test career and achievements and thus was special. "I have had two in my career, the first was stolen coming home from Sri Lanka after I had played about 20 Tests. The one I have now is precious. It never travels in my kit or my suitcase; I keep it in my hand luggage or near me at all times. Even at home it is kept in a special place. Ideally I hope that the cap I have now lasts me for the rest of my career. At the end of your career your baggy green tells a great story, it has been with you through so many experiences, all the ups and downs, all the things that happen to you on and off the field," he said.But Chappell felt "there is too much made of the baggy green". "All touring players used to wear it whether they played a Test or not. It has been overdone. I guess there is some credit to Brad Haddin that he didn't want to wear one before he played a Test match, but he could have put a white cricket hat on," Chappell said.Chappell said reverence for the baggy green, inspired by former captain Waugh, bordered on overkill. "It is a cap, a nice cap, but has only become more than a cap since Steve Waugh started to jump up and down about it," said Chappell."Cricket memorabilia has also played its part, going for ridiculous prices. It is a $5 bit of cloth. I haven't got one, haven't had one since the day I finished. I don't need to look at an Australian cap to remind me of what I did."
