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Ricky Ponting and Clark stand of over 300 runs peg behind Pakistan and now according to the situation it will be very difficult to save this test as Pakistan are already 4 down for 93 at the close of day 4.

Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam has said that Pakistan could still win the third and final Test against Australia if senior players deliver some big knocks. Alam agreed that the hosts have placed themselves in a comfortable position by posting a huge first innings score, but expressed the hope that the Pakistani batsmen would reply solidly.

“It’s far from over.There are still four more days to go in this Test. It’s quite a flat wicket and I’m confident we will also score some runs here. What we need is a couple of big knocks from our seniorplayers and then anything can happen,” The News quoted Alam, as saying.

Replying to Australia’s mammoth total Pakistan were 54 for no loss till the reports last came in. Pakistan is looking to salvage some pride by winning the third Test to avoid a 3-0 whitewash in the series.

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MELBOURNE – Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has retired from Twenty20 internationals and plans to have “set periods of rest” to prolong his Test and one-day career, but will not relinquish his lucrative Indian Premier League contract.

“After much thought and careful consideration I have informed Cricket Australia of my decision to retire from international Twenty20 cricket,” the 34-year-old Ponting said in a statement Monday.

“I have also spoken to (chief selector) Andrew Hilditch, (coach) Tim Nielsen and (vice captain) Michael Clarke and I feel this decision provides me the opportunity to prolong my Australian Test and one-day career.

“As I said after the fifth Test in London, I am hoping to continue playing Test cricket for as long as possible and retiring from the Twenty20 format gives me the best chance of doing this.”

“The last 10 or 12 days for me have been a lot about reflection, looking back to the Ashes and looking forward to my playing future,” said Ponting, Australia’s leading runscorer in Test and one-day cricket.

Ponting has played 136 Test matches for Australia, scoring 38 centuries, behind only India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who has 42.

He has scored 11,345 Test runs at an average of 55.88. He has also played 315 limited-over matches, scoring 11,523 runs at an average of 42.52.

Ponting’s captaincy has come under scrutiny in sports-mad Australia after his team’s Ashes series loss to England last month, but the batsman said he was determined to remain in charge of the side.

The 2-1 series defeat made Ponting only the second captain in more than 120 years to lose the Ashes on British soil twice.

Ponting, who will remain as Test and one day captain, said he would continue to play domestic cricket for Tasmania and would fulfill his contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

Cricket Australia (CA), which has dismissed calls for Ponting to step down following the Ashes defeat, said it supported his decision.

Australia has posted a mediocre record under Ponting’s captaincy in the shortest format of the game, crashing out of the Twenty20 World Cup in June.

Clarke, who has been seen as Ponting’s eventual replacement, has deputised in his absence.

Cricket Australia said a new Twenty20 captain would be decided later this year.
Australia’s next Twenty20 international will be held on Feb. 5 against Pakistan in Melbourne.

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Many of the cricket pundits in australia are in favour of sacking Ricking Ponting as captain. Ian Chappel and the Australian cricket board are at front among them. They think the team which played in Ashes against England was not enough competent and experienced to won the Ashes as before Mcgrath, Shane Warne and Gilchrist were the shining players due to their skills and performance Australian managed to rule the cricket world for a decade. This is the second time for England to win ashes two time consecutively.

Meanwhile, former Australian Test star Dean Jones has said Warne would jump at the chance to return to international cricket as Australian captain.

Jones told BBC Radio Five that the leg-spin legend would be a useful stop-gap while current vice-captain Michael Clarke gained experience.

“Ask Shane Warne to come out of retirement just for two years, then give it to Michael Clarke,” he said.

“A lot of people might be thinking ‘that’s stupid’ but it will take him two months, three months to get himself fit, just let him play the Test matches and, I tell you what, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“I don’t think they’ll do that, I don’t think they’ll go that far but it’ll be an option, I tell you, that’ll be looked at,” Jones added

Ponting, who is 34, is set to return to Australia for a short break before returning towards the end of the one-day international series against England.

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The Proteas are on a high after their Test series victory in Australia, and now they welcome Ricky Ponting’s men to South Africa for a quick reverse fixture.

The first two Tests take place in Johannesburg and Durban, and a squad of 12 has been selected for those two games which is without the vice-captain.

Prince injured his thumb and missed the Test series in Australia, and such was the form shown by replacement JP Duminy that he has retained his place at Prince’s expense.

“We are in the fortunate position of having seven world-class batsmen competing for six positions. It is a very healthy position for South African cricket,” said convener of selectors Mike Procter.

“Ashwell is understandably bitterly disappointed but he appreciates that he has not had the opportunity to play much cricket since his injury.

“There’s been a lot of speculation about the whole JP/Ashwell situation, so we decided to name the squad early to maintain the stability of the team and give confidence to the players, who’ve done so well for us.

“Ashwell is seriously unlucky, he scored over 160 in his last test when we were in trouble and he also did fantastic work in England.”

Prince seemed in no danger of being dropped after averaging 75 on last year’s tour of England was looked to be a certainty to return to the side after his injury, but selectors have opted instead for current form.

Duminy made a brilliant 166 to help South Africa win the second Test in Melbourne, although Prince will point out he made 162 the last time he padded up for a Test innings.

Opener Neil McKenzie’s place was thought to be in danger after averaging just over 24 in Australia, but South Africa did not want to unsettled the batting line-up.

“We know Neil did not have a good tour of Australia, but he himself was thrown into the deep end last year to open the batting and he was one of the batsmen to score over a thousand runs in 2008,” Procter added.

The selectors have decided to keep left-armer Lonwabe Tsotsobe in the squad, with Monde Zondeki and Robin Peterson both missing out.

“Tsotsobe performed very impressively from limited opportunities in Australia and he gives us extra bowling variety and depth,” Procter said.

Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is the main injury concern, after he broke a toe in Australia, but he is expected to be fit for the start of the series.

“We are monitoring Mark Boucher’s recovery from injury and we are confident that he will be fit to play by the time the series starts,” added Procter.

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When Australian off-spinner Jason Krejza walked in to meet the press at the end of the second day’s play, he still seemed a little dazed by all that had transpired over the first three hours of play on Friday.

“It is still a blur to me. I just tried to keep doing what I was doing, it’s still unbelievable to me,” he said.

Having picked up three out of five wickets on the first day, captain Ricky Ponting had bowled the offie almost right through the first session without any luck, but the tale twisted dramatically after lunch as the Aussie picked up five wickets in the space of 26 deliveries to clean up the Indians and finish with an astonishing eight for the innings.

“Incredible. It’s still unbelievable, against the best players of spin in the world, to get returns like that,” he said.

Krejza, who sat out of the first three Tests after taking a hammering at the hands of the India A side in a warm-up game said he wasn’t frustrated at any point even as he watched his bowling colleagues struggling out in the middle.

“It was an honour for me to be here in the first place. Being one of the spinners to get selected to play against India was an honour. For me to play a Test was an even greater one. It never worried me. I knew that I was going to get a go at some stage.”

Having picked up eight for the innings, it ws surprising how quickly he answered the regular ‘which one was your favourite?’ query. “The first one definitely,” he said without hesitation.

“It’s the one that sticks in my mind, my first Test wicket. Getting Rahul Dravid out was great.” Especially, as he says, he had worked it out before. “It was one that I had worked out in my mind, how to get him out, so definitely one that will stick out in my mind.”

As for the match itself, Krejza believes the Australians have set up a platform from where they can win the game. “It’s swung back in our favour, we have got ourselves into a very good position where we have tow batsmen who are looking very good and have got us into a good position to win the game.”

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