Cricket: Clarke keeps his faith in Ponting

Australia captain also looks ahead to working with Arthur.

SYDNEY: Australia captain Michael Clarke is excited at the appointment of Mickey Arthur as the new head coach while throwing his support behind the under-pressure Ricky Ponting.

Clarke was looking forward to working with Arthur, who has also coached South Africa, even though the captain was believed to have favoured former Test wicket-keeper Steve Rixon for the job.

“Mickey has done a fantastic job in the past with South Africa and we’re really excited and looking forward to working with him,” said Clarke.

Arthur is the first non-Australian to be handed the job and assumes the reins for the first Test against New Zealand on December 1. Under a revamp to the way the team is run, Clarke now sits on the selection committee alongside Arthur and they have some immediate issues to resolve ahead of the New Zealand series.

Central to this is the form of Ponting, with calls for the former captain to be dropped.

“Ponting has been a large part of the success we’ve had in Sri Lanka and South Africa,” said Clarke. “He has 39 Test hundreds and the best statistics apart from Don Bradman as an Australian player. If that doesn’t prove something, I don’t know what does.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2011.