Australia v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Darwin, 3rd day

Ponting: 'You don't want drawn Tests'

Wisden Cricinfo staff

July 4, 2004

Ricky Ponting: no regrets at missing the first Test match © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting, Australia's captain, has played down the comments made by Adam Gilchrist about the state of the Darwin pitch, on which Australia beat Sri Lanka by 149 runs in the first Test.

Gilchrist led the Australians in place of Ponting, who didn't play in the match due to family reasons, and he labelled the pitch as not up to Test standard. However, Ponting had a different opinion on the matter: "You don't want drawn Tests. We need players who can adapt and play to different conditions."

He added, "There's no doubt we were spoiled last year. Last summer the pitches were as flat as I've seen in Australia. The West Indies last year was exactly the same. You don't want batsmen dominating the ball as much as they did last summer. Better cricket wickets will make it a better spectacle for the fans and more enjoyable to play."

However, cricket and the state of the Darwin pitch were far from Ponting's mind this week. His Aunt passed away during the Test, and he insisted he had no regrets at missing the match. "It's been a pretty tough week for me and my family, but as far as it being a tough decision to miss the Test, it wasn't a tough decision at all," Ponting said. "Fingers crossed I'm going to play a lot more Test matches, but I've got only one family, so that was where the decision was made."

He also brushed aside any fears that he might be under prepared for the second Test, starting at Cairns on Friday (July 9). "I won't be going in cold," he said. "I had a really good workout for a few days in Brisbane. I got a lot out of that and I'll be able to do that the next few days here as well. As it turned out the batsmen didn't get too much time in the middle anyway, so I don't think I've missed out on too much."

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