INDIA: CRICKET - Australia captain Ricky Ponting says his team will be well prepared for the Cricket World Cup

Record ID: 1376998

  • Title: INDIA: CRICKET - Australia captain Ricky Ponting says his team will be well prepared for the Cricket World Cup
  • Date: 12th February 2011
  • Summary: BANGALORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA (FEBRUARY 11, 2011) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) RICKY PONTING, CAPTAIN OF THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM, ARRIVING FOR A NEWS CONFERENCE PONTING SITTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AT THE VENUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICKY PONTING, AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN, SAYING: "There are a number of very good cricket teams out there at the moment. Yes, we rank number one but we will not be thinking about being the number one team in the next couple of weeks. We will be training as hard as anybody else and preparing better than anyone else to give ourselves the best chance in the tournament. That is all we can do." PONTING WITH MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICKY PONTING, AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN, SAYING: "There is no bigger stage than a World Cup for all of us to stand up and perform well. I am sure Sachin (Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar) wants to have a good tournament. I am sure he wants to be a part of the World Cup winning side, but hopefully he is not." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICKY PONTING, AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN, SAYING: "About Brett Lee (Australian bowler), I have been really impressed with Brett since he has come back into the Australian team. Right through the six games that he played back in Australia, I think he was the pick of the bowlers in maybe all but one of the games. His return to international cricket has been very good and very satisfying. As I say, he is probably a slower and different bowler than he was, even maybe when he went out of the team for the last time." PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICKY PONTING, AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN, SAYING: "Do we feel safe and secure? Well, yes, of course. We are taking advice all the time from different security agencies from around the world and around Australia. Cricket Australia and our players' association have been terrific in keeping us in the loop with everything that has been happening around the world security-wise in international cricket. We only arrived last night but everything we have been accorded so far has been great." PONTING AT PRESS CONFERENCE RICKY PONTING, AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN, SAYING: "It probably will be Sachin's last World Cup and probably my last World Cup as well. I guess we have been lucky over the years to play a lot of cricket against each other. I have always enjoyed the chance of playing against Sachin and playing against the Indian team, especially under these conditions here. So, nothing will change over the next few weeks, we will enjoy and see who comes out on the top." PONTING LEAVING THE PRESS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 27th February 2011 11:56
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India, India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA39E58A4VZ9SB1DZTSIZ4WN3FO
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Captain Ricky Ponting said on Friday (February 11) that Australia will be training harder than anyone in their bid to win a fourth Cricket World Cup in a row.
    Speaking a day after arriving in India to prepare for the tournament, Ponting told a packed press conference that Australia will be well prepared for the tournament.
    "Yes, we rank number one but we will not be thinking about being the number one team in the next couple of weeks, he said.
    "We will be training as hard as anybody else and preparing better than anyone else to give ourselves the best chance in the tournament. That is all we can do."
    Australia, unbeaten in 29 World Cup matches, come into the tournament in patchy form having lost their first-ever home series to Sri Lanka to kick off their summer they beat a jaded England 6-1 in the post-Ashes one-day series.
    Ponting has scored 1,537 runs at an average of 48.03 in his four previous World Cups and is recovering from a broken finger which caused him to miss the one-day series against England. He is the tournament's second most prolific batsman behind India's Sachin Tendulkar and a three-times winner of the trophy.
    One of the expected highlights of the tournament is the prospect of seeing the two best batsmen of their generation playing against each other for probably the last time in a World Cup.
    "There is no bigger stage than a World Cup for all of us to stand up and perform well. I am sure Sachin wants to have a good tournament. I am sure he wants to be a part of the World Cup winning side, but hopefully he is not," said Ponting.
    "I guess we have been lucky over the years to play a lot of cricket against each other. I have always enjoyed the chance of playing against Sachin and playing against the Indian team, especially under these conditions here. So, nothing will change over the next few weeks, we will enjoy and see who comes out on the top."
    There have been some positives for Australia in the recent series against England, with signs that the side are starting to gel as a unit.
    Experienced fast bowler Brett Lee looked to be back at his menacing best after his recall from more than a year in the international wilderness.
    Lee is one of seven players in the 15 who were in the triumphant 2007 squad and if Shaun Tait can remain fit and the mercurial Mitchell Johnson find a bit of form the pace attack will be a fearsome prospect.
    "I have been really impressed with Brett since he has come back into the Australian team. Right through the six games that he played back in Australia, I think he was the pick of the bowlers in maybe all but one of the games," said Ponting.
    "His return to international cricket has been very good and very satisfying. As I say, he is probably a slower and different bowler than he was, even maybe when he went out of the team for the last time."
    The Australian captain also expressed satisfaction at the security accorded to the team by the Indian authorities, saying he felt 'safe and secure.'
    "We are taking advice all the time from different security agencies from around the world and around Australia. Cricket Australia and our players' association have been terrific in keeping us in the loop with everything that has been happening around the world security-wise in international cricket," he said.
    Ponting's men will play two warm-up games against India and South Africa on February 13 and 15 and open their World Cup campaign against Zimbabwe on February 21.
    The tournament is being hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and runs between Feb. 19 and April 2.
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