Senior batsman Ricky Ponting plans to step up sprint work to prove his fitness from a hamstring injury ahead of Friday's opening Brisbane Test against South Africa
Ponting withdrew during last week’s Sheffield Shield game for Tasmania with hamstring tightness, but said he was feeling better two days out from the Gabba opener with the top-ranked Proteas.
“I came down early and did 20 or 30 minutes of running before the boys got here today which is part of the process the physios have mapped out for me for the next few days,” Ponting told reporters yesterday.
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Ricky Ponting bats during a practice session at the Gabba in Brisbane yesterday. Pic/Getty Imagesu00a0
“I’ll probably ramp things up a little on Thursday with a bit more intense running with some sprint work and another full-on hit in the nets.
“I didn’t feel anything with it today so I expect to be right.”
As skipper Michael Clarke muses over the final make-up of his bowling attack, the heat was on in the practice nets yesterday as the battery of fast bowlers went about their work to impress selectors.
Clarke took a blow on the wrist and had his hand in a bucket of ice following his net session.
“The boys (bowlers) have been going exceptionally well trying to impress and that’s good,” former skipper Ponting said.
“That’s the sort of intensity we have come to demand around our net sessions now,” he added. —u00a0
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