Ricky Ponting to undergo finger surgery on Tuesday
Injured Australian captain Ricky Ponting will undergo a surgery on his broken finger on Tuesday, 4 January 2011 in a bid to be fit to lead the side in next month’s ICC World Cup.
Ponting had suffered a fracture on little finger of his left hand on day three of the third Test in Perth while attempting to catch Jonathan Trott’s edge in the second slip. X-ray showed a small crack and Ponting missed the rest of the Perth Test nursing
his injured finger. He returned to lead the side at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the fourth Ashes Test but the injury was aggravated due to lack of rest and subsequently, he was ruled out of the Ashes finale in Sydney.
Last week, Australian team’s physio http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Alex-Kountouris-c43123 had told the media that two treatment options were being considered- an immediate surgery or a splinter to stop the movement of injured finger to avoid further aggravation. But a Cricket Australia spokesman
said in a statement on Monday that it was agreed by the team physio and surgeons that surgery was the best option for a complete and timely recovery. The spokesman also revealed that the surgery would be carried out on Tuesday.
Ponting had a struggling 2010 season both as captain as well as a middle-order batsman. He has scored only one Test century in the last 37 innings. In the 2010/11 Ashes series, he could only manage 113 runs from 8 innings at an average of only 16.
Ponting, though ruled out of the Sydney Test, was seen sitting in the Australian dressing room talking to the players and this irked the cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Chappell. The former Australia cricketer said that the 36-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854 batsman
should stay away from the dressing room to give Michael Clarke a free hand in managing things.
"I think there should be someone in the Australian set-up who says, 'Look Ricky, you are not captain in this game. Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 is captain," said Chappell.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 is trailing the series by 2-1. Having the urn already lost, the hosts need to win the fifth Ashes Test being played in Sydney to avoid a series defeat.
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