Ponting reacts to England squad, umpires
Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting was surprised that England selectors chose all-rounder Andrew Flintoff as captain ahead of Andrew Strauss for the upcoming Ashes series.
In Kuala Lumpur for a One Day tri-series with the West Indies and India, Ponting was speaking after hearing the announcement of the England squad, and after he had been fined his full match fee for an on field outburst in the first match against the Windies.
“It doesn’t really matter what squad they have named. It won’t change what we do at all,” said Ponting in the Malaysian capital.
“We’ve got a fair bit of one-day cricket to focus on and look forward to, and when November comes around we will start thinking about the Ashes.”
Strauss had captained England in their recent 3-0 test series win over Pakistan but was overlooked for the Ashes captaincy, surprising his Australian counterpart.
“Yeah, I did think that Strauss would get the nod but obviously it hasn’t gone that way – I don’t know why. We will have to wait and see what sort of job Flintoff does,” Ponting said.
“I believe (Ashley) Giles has been picked subject to fitness and (Monty) Panesar is in the squad as well so we’ve got both those guys coming out.”
Earlier, Australia looked like being stunned after setting the West Indies 280 for victory, only to see batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle put on an opening stand of 136 at a rate of more than 7 runs an over.
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West Indies’ Carlton Baugh out |
The Caribbean side looked to be cruising after Chanderpaul’s 92 off 83 deliveries, but then lost their last 7 wickets for 25 runs with Shane Watson taking 4 for 43 off eight overs helping his side to an unlikely 78 run victory.
Ponting was charged with showing dissent at an umpire’s decision – to which he pleaded guilty at a subsequent hearing, after he queried umpire Asad Rauf’s call of a wide in the 33rd over of the West Indies innings.
The Australian captain was contrite after the incident and said he would personally apologise to umpire Rauf.
“Having had the opportunity to sleep on the incident, I know I made a serious error of judgement. I regret the approach I made to umpire Asad Rauf and realise I shouldn’t have behaved in the way I did,” Ponting said in a statement.
The West Indies play India in the second match of the DLF Cup at Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.