We won’t take the Windies lightly: Ricky Ponting – Cricket News Update
Australia’s veteran batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377, has warned his side against getting too complacent against the Windies, claiming they won’t underestimate the host team.
“We spoke about it on Sunday, about how competitive we think they'll be and how prepared we have to be to win the Test matches over here,” Ponting said. “We definitely won't take it for granted or take anything lightly.”
Australia went into their tour of the Caribbean with high spirits, having won the Commonwealth Bank series they hosted in February. However, the foreign weather conditions, and low, slow pitches proved to be a challenge for the visitors as they struggled
to adapt.
The limited-overs leg of the tour saw both teams equally matched, with the ODIs drawn 2-2 (5), and the T20Is also tied at 1-1 – somewhat disappointing outcomes for the Aussies, who are currently ranked the top ODI team, while the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 occupy the 8th
position, with 86 points in comparison to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s 123.
With the limited-overs fixtures having proven to be a challenge for the visitors, the Tests series is bound to be an even tougher competition, and Ponting accepts that he will need to make the younger players on the squad realize the enormity of the task
ahead.
“I guess that's a big part of my job in the next few days - making sure the boys don't get too carried away with things and that we're preparing as we would if we were playing against one of the powerhouse nations in world cricket.”
The Windies are currently at number 7 on the Test team rankings, having won only 3 of the last 28 Tests they played. The Aussies, however, are at number 4 – after having drawn series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 last year, they went on to claim a
spectacular 4-0 whitewash against India in December 2011/January 2012.
Ponting, who was dropped from the ODI squad in the middle of the tri-series in February, expressed the intent to continue in the longer format of the game – his last Test series' performances, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, saw him score a stellar 544 runs at an average
of 108.8. He is keen on maintaining that form, in order to be able to achieve his goal of reclaiming the Ashes.
“It's not about having one good series here and there, it's about being consistent and putting performances on the board game after game,” he said.
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