Ricky Ponting is hopeful he will be fit for Australia's practice games at the World Cup, after he batted in the nets for the first time since having surgery on his little finger. Ponting took throw-downs from Australia's batting coach Justin Langer at the SCG on Tuesday and reported no major trouble with his finger.
"I'm not too bad, probably better than expected, to tell you the truth," Ponting told the Daily Telegraph. "I started off with soft balls and plastic balls to get the feel of the bat back in my hand again, and the only ones that hurt a lot were where the bat was twisting in my hand a bit. But I'm pretty happy with how the day went."
Ponting suffered the break to the little finger on his left hand during the Perth Ashes Test and he also played the next game at the MCG, where he aggravated the problem. He sat out of the Sydney match - the first Test he had missed since 2004 - and had an operation, with the aim of ensuring he could lead Australia's World Cup defence.
The team flies out to India next week and the first warm-up match is against India in Bangalore on February 13, before a final practice game against South Africa two days later. Those outings are likely to mark Ponting's return, and he said there was no chance he would risk a comeback in the last ODI against England at the WACA on Sunday.
"I think Perth is unlikely," he said. "Today was my first hit, and I don't think Don Bradman could go into a game having a month off with only one or two training sessions under his belt. I'll keep progressing slowly. There's no great rush. I don't want to be silly about it and hurt it. I'll do what the physio allows me to do the next couple of weeks. The practice games are realistic for me if things keep progressing well."
Ponting is one of several batsmen in the Australian camp to have injury concerns, with Michael Hussey's chances of reaching the World Cup still unclear after he had surgery on a serious hamstring injury. The likely replacement if Hussey is unavailable would be Shaun Marsh, although he is also battling a hamstring problem.
Showing posts with label Ponting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ponting. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Hussey in Doubt But Ponting on Track for World Cup
Ricky Ponting hopes his injured finger will be right for the start of the World Cup next month, but Michael Hussey's future is less clear following a serious hamstring tear. Both players were named in Australia's 15-man squad, but Andrew Hilditch indicated Hussey was in some doubt for the event.
"It's quite a severe hamstring injury," Hilditch said after announcing the outfit in Sydney. "It's obviously something we'll need to assess before the team departs."
Hussey hurt himself during Sunday's one-day win over England at the MCG and is expected to be out for six weeks. Australia's first game of the World Cup is against Zimbabwe on February 21 in Ahmedabad, with the quarter-finals starting a month later.
"He's still deciding the best medical management, it's just happened at a bad time," Hilditch said. "Obviously Mike's a key player of our squad so he's in this squad, but a final decision whether he's going to be fit or not will be made closer to our departure date."
Ponting has no such doubts over his left little finger, which he broke while fielding during the third Ashes Test in Perth. He missed the Sydney match and had surgery, ruling him out of the seven ODIs against England.
"I'm hoping to be right for the start of the World Cup," Ponting said. "My finger's coming along okay, I guess. I haven't been able to do anything for the last couple of weeks post-surgery, but I've got a bit more movement now."
The finger is still in a splint and Ponting said it would be looked at by a doctor once a week. "I'm pretty keen to get a bat back in my hands again and I'm going to be around the team, certainly this week down in Hobart for the second game," he said.
Ponting is 36 and heading to his fifth World Cup, but he said even a fourth consecutive victory would not hide the pain of the Ashes defeat. "I'm not sure if anything would erase what's just happened," he said. "Payback's going to be hard to get after losing the Ashes."
Australia's position in ODIs is much better than in Tests, where they sit fifth, and Ponting remains confident of his side's chances. "We're quite clearly the No.1-ranked one-day team in the world, and I think just little things like the great win that we had the other night shows that this one-day team is certainly on the right track," he said. "We've got a really proud record in the subcontinent and we'll be going there to do everything we can to win another World Cup."
"It's quite a severe hamstring injury," Hilditch said after announcing the outfit in Sydney. "It's obviously something we'll need to assess before the team departs."
Hussey hurt himself during Sunday's one-day win over England at the MCG and is expected to be out for six weeks. Australia's first game of the World Cup is against Zimbabwe on February 21 in Ahmedabad, with the quarter-finals starting a month later.
"He's still deciding the best medical management, it's just happened at a bad time," Hilditch said. "Obviously Mike's a key player of our squad so he's in this squad, but a final decision whether he's going to be fit or not will be made closer to our departure date."
Ponting has no such doubts over his left little finger, which he broke while fielding during the third Ashes Test in Perth. He missed the Sydney match and had surgery, ruling him out of the seven ODIs against England.
"I'm hoping to be right for the start of the World Cup," Ponting said. "My finger's coming along okay, I guess. I haven't been able to do anything for the last couple of weeks post-surgery, but I've got a bit more movement now."
The finger is still in a splint and Ponting said it would be looked at by a doctor once a week. "I'm pretty keen to get a bat back in my hands again and I'm going to be around the team, certainly this week down in Hobart for the second game," he said.
Ponting is 36 and heading to his fifth World Cup, but he said even a fourth consecutive victory would not hide the pain of the Ashes defeat. "I'm not sure if anything would erase what's just happened," he said. "Payback's going to be hard to get after losing the Ashes."
Australia's position in ODIs is much better than in Tests, where they sit fifth, and Ponting remains confident of his side's chances. "We're quite clearly the No.1-ranked one-day team in the world, and I think just little things like the great win that we had the other night shows that this one-day team is certainly on the right track," he said. "We've got a really proud record in the subcontinent and we'll be going there to do everything we can to win another World Cup."
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