Arthur backs Ponting’s participation in Ashes 2013 – Cricket News Update
Despite the negative hype surrounding http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mickey-Arthur-c1969 has expressed his support for the veteran batsman, saying he does not expect him to retire anytime soon, and hopes he will be
available for the 2013 Ashes.
“There was a lot of media pressure and talk around Ricky, but Ricky’s not going anywhere,” Arthur said.
“We hope Ricky's scoring enough runs to go to the Ashes, most certainly, in England. Ricky's still got a lot of Test runs in him, there's no doubt about that.”
The 37-year-old’s career took an uncertain turn when he was abruptly dropped from Australia’s ODI squad in the middle of the Commonwealth Bank series earlier this year, after he fell into a batting slump he seemed unable to recover from.
While he refrained from announcing a formal retirement from the shorter format of the game, he did admit that he would be focusing his career on Tests and domestic cricket, adding that he wanted to recover the Ashes for Australia.
After some promising performances for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 last month. While Ponting did not put forth any remarkable displays, he
did chip in with useful scores such as 41 and 57 (his highest), leading Arthur to remark that during the tour of the Caribbean, “his [Ponting’s] form was always good”.
Rubbishing rumours of Ponting’s retirement, the coach claimed that the right-hander would be ready for inclusion in the Australian squad for their Test series against the Proteas in the latter part of 2012. The tour will be of immense importance as the Aussies,
currently at number 3 on the ICC’s Test team rankings, look to regain the top spot which is currently in the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, with the Proteas at number two.
“Ricky’s definitely in no way considering retiring. He’ll be fit and ready to go against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 – he’ll be ready,” Arthur insisted. “I think if we win the Ashes, then maybe he'll go out on the top of
his game.”
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