Wednesday, 27 October 2010

The Ashes 2010: I am the right man to captain Australia against England, says Ricky Ponting

Pressure has mounted on Ponting's leadership ahead of the five-Test home Ashes series against England, with Australia now having lost three consecutive Tests for the first time in more than 20 years.

However, when asked if he was the right man to captain Australia this summer, Ponting said: "Absolutely, I've got no doubt about that at all.

"It was disappointing over there (India)... but that's the game of cricket.

"I'm still learning about my own game and my captaincy and if the other players can learn a bit from that trip then it should hold us in good stead for the summer.

"I'm trying to do my best as captain to help some of these guys through some difficult times. That's all I can continue to do.

"I give my absolute best as always, ever since I've been the Australian captain, to be the best leader I can be and be the best player I can be and if I get criticised for that along the way then I can't do anything about that."

Lawson has called for current vice-captain Michael Clarke to lead Australia against England at the Gabba in Brisbane on Nov 25.

Lawson said Ponting, 35, had now lost five series as skipper, and relieving him of the captaincy would allow him to focus more on his batting.

"I mean he's now lost five series, it may be time to say, 'Look mate, we've got Michael Clarke ready to go with a nice fresh young mind," Lawson said.

"'He (Clarke) can be the captain and you focus on your batting and try to restore yourself to the level we know you're capable.'"

But Clarke has his own problems and scored just 35 runs from four innings in the Indian Test series.

Ponting, meanwhile, said he had told Warne directly of his feelings about controversial remarks made by the fromer spinner on Twitter.

"I sent (Warne) a few texts and I'm not hiding the fact I was really disappointed with the tweets that I read," Ponting said.

"I've just got to put it behind me now. I told him that I was a bit disappointed, and I thought what he had to say was very unfair, for the fact it was pretty ill-informed comments that he made.

"I've never been one to run away or be too big or too good for criticism."

The embattled skipper, though, was given a vote of confidence from the federal Sports Minister, Mark Arbib.

"I'm a big fan of Punter (Ponting)," Arbib said. "I think Ricky Ponting has been a wonderful captain for our country and over a long period of time so I think he will remain as captain going through the Ashes."

Former fast bowler Brett Lee said the three successive Test losses would rule out any complacency ahead of the Ashes that might have crept into the Australian dressing room.

"The thing I can say is complacency won't be setting in now because the shoe is on the other foot," Lee said.


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