Clark to miss second Test

Australian pacer Stuart Clark, nursing an elbow injury, lost his race against time and would miss the second Test against India, paving the way for rookie Victorian right-arm fast bowler Peter Siddle's debut here on Friday.

Clark, who sustained the injury in the first Test at Bangalore, did come for the practice session but could still feel the pain, which prompted the team's think-tank to rule him out and blood Siddle in.

"Stuart Clark bowled about 30 balls yesterday and still had the elbow pain, which which he had sustained in the first Test. Consequentially, he is ruled out of this Test. Peter Siddle will make his debut tomorrow," a spokesman of the Australian team told reporters.

"(Physio) Alex Kontouris will continue to monitor Stuart Clark's progress in the coming days," he added.

Clark's stifling accuracy has often straitjacketed the Indian batsmen and his absence would surely ease the pressure on them in the Mohali Test.

Twenty three-year-old Siddle has not played any Test or ODI so far and despite his abundant talent, the youngster might find it a baptism by fire when he bowls at what is arguably the most illustrious middle order batting line-up in contemporary cricket.

Siddle, however, can take heart from the fact that his captain Ricky Ponting has full faith in him. Ponting does not read too much into Siddle's inexperience and believes the rookie would not let him down.

"A lot was made of our experience leading to the first Test but if you look at the performance of those guys there it was very good. So that will be there when you play your first game.," Ponting said.

"Siddle will make his debut and he is a very lively right-arm fast bowler from Victoria. He is a very simple bloke and enjoys bowling. He would enjoy the contest of bowling to the Indian top order. There are some very good players in that top order and I'm sure he is up for the challenge.

"He keeps it pretty simple and is a good exponent of reverse swing as well. Hopefully in this game if he can find the rhythm early and nicely, it would be surplus," Ponting added.

Asked if Clark's absence would be a disadvantage for his side, the Aussie skipper said, "I don't think so. Eleven players would be giving their best for Australia and we know that we are competitive against any side in the world."

Ponting scores 10,000th Test run

Ricky Ponting has become the seventh man to join the 10,000-run Test club, moving alongside Steve Waugh and Allan Border as the only Australian members of the elite group. Ponting, 33, reached the milestone by advancing to the part-time legspinner Ramnaresh Sarwan and cover-driving for two, taking him from 59 to 61.

He acknowledged the achievement with a subdued wave of the bat and accepted the congratulations from his partner Simon Katich. There was a standing ovation from the Australia players in the dressing room and from a contingent of Australian spectators at the ground, but the small crowd at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium made it a muted occasion.

Ponting was unable to move far past the mark and finished the innings with 10,004 runs after getting a thick edge to slip on 65. He achieved the feat in his 118th Test, making him the second-fastest man to five figures behind Brian Lara, who arrived there in his 111th game.

"It's taken 13 years of international cricket to get 10,000 Test runs," Ponting said after play. "Everyone growing up wishes they could do it, but the thing I'm most proud about is my longevity in the game. To play so many Tests, I'm proud of that record. As a top-order batsman, if you play that many games, you're probably expected to get close on 10,000."

The other three men to have scored so heavily are the Indian trio of Rahul Dravid, who joined the club two months ago, Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. Ponting expects Tendulkar's record to remain out of reach.

"I'm continually chasing Brian (11,953 runs) and Sachin (11,782)," he said. "Brian has finished but Sachin has got a few years left. Right now, my body has been sound for a few years. I've had some niggling back things, but I am working pretty hard to keep out of harm's way."

Ponting credits his fulltime move to No. 3 behind his run-scoring surge over the second half of his career. Since his elevation during the 2001 England tour he has scored 7362 runs at 68.80 in 74 games.

"There has been a bit made of the fact that I've been able to average more after being captain than before, but early in my career I struggled with batting down the order," he said. "Batting at No. 6 was something I'd never done before. Everyone thinks it's easier down there, I found it harder.

"I didn't know what to do sitting around the changeroom for all that time, and coming in after all those great players. Batting at No. 3 was where everything changed in my career. When I have more responsibility in the batting order is when I play my best cricket."

Ponting backs Katich as opener

Simon Katich has won the backing of the captain Ricky Ponting and one of the selectors, David Boon, as he aims to settle into the Test opening role after Matthew Hayden was forced home from the Caribbean due to injury. When Hayden missed the first Test in Kingston because of his achilles tendon problem, Katich opened but he failed to have much impact, scoring 12 and 1.

The Sabina Park match was Katich's first Test following two and a half years out of the team and an extended run in Hayden's spot might allow him to calm his nerves. Ponting said Katich deserved another opportunity after he started well in the first innings against West Indies only to flash at a wide one outside off stump and drive a catch to gully.

"He seemed to get a bit carried away in the first innings of the first Test," Ponting wrote in the Australian. "He was back in the Test team, sighting the ball well and he struck a few boundaries early and he just went for one that he should have left alone.

"I had a good chat with him yesterday and he said he felt as good as ever at the crease in the second innings but he got one that surprised him a little with a bit of pace and a bit of inswing. He's riding an incredible wave of confidence. He's seeing the ball well and hitting it well and I am sure we will see him make some runs in the next game."

Katich's recall came after a stunning 2007-08 domestic campaign in which he broke the record for most runs in a Pura Cup season. Although he generally bats at No. 3 for New South Wales he has opened for them on occasions. Justin Langer became a successful Test opener after jumping from No. 3 and Boon, who did the same, believes Katich can do a good job replacing Hayden.

"I wouldn't say it's like versus like, but if you bat in the top three you should be able to open if required," Boon told the paper. "It's easier for an opener to go back down the order than it is for someone to go up and open, but if you bat in the top three, as long as you get it in your brain that you want to do it, it's fine."

Katich also knows that he could be auditioning for an eventual full-time opening role after Chris Rogers, who made a one-off appearance against India at the WACA in January, lost his Cricket Australia contract. Hayden, 36, wants to play until at least next year's Ashes tour, providing his fitness holds out.

Australia disappointed with handling of case - Ponting

Ricky Ponting says some of the Australia players are disappointed that Harbhajan Singh's penalty over the incident with Andrew Symonds in the Sydney Test was downgraded to 50% of his match fee. However, Ponting believes it is time for Australia and India to move past the racism saga.

Justice John Hansen said in his judgement that database and human errors meant a previous offence - Harbhajan was fined 75% of his match fee and give a one-Test suspended sentence in 2001 - was not revealed to the assisting counsel at the time of sentencing. Ponting said the appeal, which was heard on Tuesday, provided the players with closure but it had not been handled as well as possible.

"The judge has made it pretty clear today that even he was a bit disappointed with the severity, or non-severity, of his findings, basically because he wasn't handed some pretty vital and important information," Ponting said. "There's no doubt that there'd be a few players in the Australian dressing-room that would be a little bit disappointed with the outcome as well, knowing what we now know.

"I'm sure that Cricket Australia will get to the bottom of that. It's not up to me or up to the players. The case is closed, it can't ever be reopened. Cricket Australia will take it up with the appropriate people and let's hope that sort of stuff doesn't slip through the net again."

Ponting's comments were similar to those that came earlier in the day from Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland, who said he was disappointed Hansen was not given all the facts. "The judge's decision is final, we accept that, there was an unfortunate error in circumstances that led to him not having all the facts in front of him at that time, but that's gone," Sutherland said.

Harbhajan was accused of calling Symonds a "monkey" - Symonds had been subjected to monkey chants from spectators during Australia's ODI tour of India in October - but Hansen said Symonds could not be certain if Harbhajan had used the word. Hansen also criticised Symonds' part in the verbal exchange and Ponting hoped the case did not affect Symonds' reputation.

"Any sort of character assassination on Andrew Symonds would be completely unfair," Ponting said. "He's someone who doesn't want this stuff happening, it's the second time with what he had to go through in India as well, and it's the last thing in the world he wants."

However, Sutherland said Cricket Australia would discuss the judgement with Symonds and the rest of his team-mates. "No doubt with Andrew, as there with many other people, some things for him toe reflect on," Sutherland said. "We will take the opportunity to talk at the right time to Andrew and other players and the players as a group about some of the circumstances and some of the things that are reported in the judgement."

Ponting and Sutherland were speaking in Melbourne ahead of Friday's Twenty20 international between Australia and India, and Ponting said he was looking forward to again focusing on the cricket instead of off-field issues. "It has taken a toll on [Symonds] and it's taken a toll on me over the last few weeks," Ponting said.

I'm not Bhajji's bunny, thunders Ponting

Ricky Ponting may have fallen to the belligerent off-spinner six times in seven Tests but the Australian captain asserted he is not Harbhajan Singh's bunny and is itching to settle scores in the next Test in Sydney.

Ponting, who fell to the spinner in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, called it just an aberration and gave ample hint that he would do everything to set records right.

"We've got a good little battle on our hands," Ponting said.

"I'm actually looking forward to Sydney now, especially after he said some of the stuff he has about getting me out. He must have a pretty short memory," he was quoted as saying by The Australian.

For the record, Harbhajan removed Ponting on all five occasions in the 2001 series, which included three ducks.

Though Ponting was by and large unperturbed in the next two series, in India and Australia, Harbhajan once again threatens to be his bugbear when the offie scalped him in the second innings at the MCG.

Ponting admitted Harbhajan has had the better of their exchanges in Test cricket but stressed he had paid the bowler back in One-Dayers.

Source : http://www.cricketnext.com/

MacGill running out of time - physio

Stuart MacGill does not have time to significantly improve his fitness ahead of the Boxing Day Test and playing Pura Cup matches in the lead-up could make his knee injury worse, according to Australia's physio Alex Kountouris. The physio's advice came after Tim Nielsen, the coach, told MacGill his fitness would continue to be monitored, especially given Australia's hectic upcoming Test schedule.

Playing two Tests within two weeks hampered MacGill's recovery from knee surgery and he was also struggling with numbness in his hand against Sri Lanka in Hobart. Kountouris said MacGill was free to play for New South Wales in two Pura Cup matches before the India Test series but he would have trouble regaining his fitness in the next month.

"There's not enough time, really," Kountouris told the Herald Sun. "I have made him available to play in the Pura Cup, if he wants to, but that could actually be a limiting factor. It will be hard to improve his fitness during games."

MacGill, 36, had a lot of trouble landing his deliveries where he intended at Hobart, especially in the second innings, and he served up plenty of full tosses and short balls. On Wednesday he said he was undecided about how to approach the next month.