Ponting says ICC Champions Trophy title won’t make up for Ashes loss

October 6th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has said that he is "ecstatic" at winning a second successive Champions Trophy title after beating New Zealand by six wickets in the final. Replying to New Zealand's score of 200 for the loss of nine wickets, the Australians scored 206 for the loss of four wickets thanks to Shane Watson's 105 not out and Cameron White's 62.

October 5th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Australia skipper Ricky Ponting and his New Zealand counterpart Daniel Vettori have applauded the decision of the Champions Trophy organisers to feature just the top eight sides in the world and contain the tournament to a fortnight's duration. "This has certainly been the best and most enjoyable Champions Trophy I have played in, to have the best eight teams and a shorter period of time," Sky Sports quoted Ponting, who has taken part in all five previous Champions Trophy titles, as saying.

October 5th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Australian cricket can look back at its past five months with pride despite the Ashes loss, feels skipper Ricky Ponting. Ponting believes the rejuvenation of the side after the two-one series loss to England will allow the period to be looked back upon as significant.

October 3rd, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said that he admires the rapid improvement that his relatively inexperienced team has made in the Champions Trophy and says that he won't be happy till his team successfully defends its title. Australia, who defeated England by nine wickets in Friday's semi-final at SuperSport Park, will now play against the winner of the other semi-final between New Zealand and Pakistan on Monday.

September 13th, 2009 LONDON - Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has made it clear he wants to return to England for the 2013 Ashes. Ponting said that having made the decision to retire from Twenty20 cricket internationally, he was hopeful about prolonging his Test career and making it to the 2013 Ashes squad.

August 27th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting has returned home and declared he would not walk away from international cricket even if he was stripped of his captaincy. He said he would be happy to play under deputy Michael Clarke.

August 22nd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Nine of the players currently playing in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval, have been included in Australia's 15-man squad for next month's Champion's Trophy to be played in South Africa. The national selection panel has resisted the temptation to blood some exciting youngsters.

August 22nd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Despite being sidelined for the entire Ashes series due to injuries, fast bowler Brett Lee has found a place in the 15-member Australian squad for the Champions Trophy in South Africa from Sep 22. Cricket Australia (CA) national selection panel's chairman Andrew Hilditch said the selectors decided to pick a squad which is similar to the Ashes team.

August 5th, 2009 BIRMINGHAM - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting believes he has unlocked the secret to pace bowler Mitchell Johnson - keep him away from the new ball. There are encouraging signs that Johnson is starting to turn his horror Ashes tour around.

August 1st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting may have become his country's highest scorer in Tests, but he faces the rare prospect of being the second Kangaroo skipper to lose two consecutive Ashes series in England, reports the Courier Mail. The only other is Australia's first touring captain, Billy Murdoch, well over a century ago.

July 8th, 2009 CARDIFF - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has urged Welsh fans to support his team as the Ashes series starts in Cardiff today. Ponting believes that old hostilities between the Welsh and the English could cause Cardiff locals to support Australia.

July 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Ricky Ponting might be disappointed with John Buchanan's new job as an advisor in the English board, but the former Australian coach will be backing Ponting to win the Ashes. Buchanan said that Ponting can lead the team to a win in the series and atone for their loss in 2005.

July 3rd, 2009 LONDON - With just five days left for the Ashes, Australian captain Ricky Ponting again made it clear that he is not happy with John Buchanan's decision to join the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as an adviser. "I just hope I don't see him with an England jumper on.

June 9th, 2009 LONDON - Knocked out of the World Twenty20, Australian captain Ricky Ponting was left singing the Ashes tune to lessen their pain. The World Champions in the 50-over format slumped to their second loss in the league stage with an inspiring Sri Lankan side outplaying them by six wickets Tuesday.

May 30th, 2009 LONDON - Australia captain Ricky Ponting is excited about the Twenty20 World Cup as his side has a double incentive to win it. Having been the holders of the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, a victory in the shortest form of the game would give them a clean sweep of all the major one-day trophies.