Cricket http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 confirms that Ricky Pointing will lead the side in 2011 World Cup
There were rumours that Australia will be led by a different captain in the World Cup, but Cricket Australia’s (CA) chief James Sutherland has confirmed that Ricky Ponting will lead the side after he recovers from injury.
Ponting sustained an injury during the Perth Test, but decided to continue leading the team for the fourth match played at Melbourne. His injury got worse and he was advised to rest from cricket. To add insult to injury, Australia lost the Melbourne Test
match to allow England to retain the Ashes.
After he was rested from the series, Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 was named as the captain for the final Test and also the ODI series against England. Clarke also struggled for form during the Ashes and is not a fan favourite in Australia according to a public-poll.
The injured Australian captain will undergo surgery and is expected to be fit in time for the 2011 World Cup. The CA chief Sutherland said, “There’s no question of looking beyond the immediacy of this Test match and Ponting’s return ahead of the World Cup,
which we’ve obviously flagged as being incredibly important, which is why he’s being wrapped in cotton wool from now.”
Clarke also stated that he was elected as the Australian captain for a limited time-period. He said that Ponting’s role is important for the Australian team in the Test matches. Replying to a question about permanent captaincy, Clarke said, “No, I’ve always
said from day one Ricky Ponting is my leader, my captain, and I’m certain he’ll be back captaining ASAP. For me the focus is right now on this Test match and doing as well as we possibly can to try and level the series and I’m certain Punter will be back ASAP.”
There were also speculations that Ponting would retire from cricket or step down as the captain of the team, but he denied these rumours saying, “I think I’ve got a lot to offer as a player and as the captain of the Australian team and I want to continue
to do that. I want to play Test cricket post-World Cup as well, so that’s what’s in the future for me.”
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