Use Australia Day celebration to beat Proteas: Ponting

Even as Australia takes on South Africa in the fourth of five one-day internationals here on Monday, skipper Ricky Ponting has called on his charges to draw inspiration from Australia Day.

According to Fox Sports, Ponting said he was buoyed by the patriotism of the occasion - and hoped his players felt the same way.

“There’s been a good turnout at training and lots of people waving their Australian flags which is terrific,” Ponting said.

“If there’s ever a day where the Australian cricket team would want to bounce back on it’s certainly Australia Day. The weather’s obviously going to be great, it’s a great game to play in here in Adelaide, and it’s always nice to be here. Hopefully the cricket team can do the right thing on Australia Day and put up a good performance,” Ponting added.

Down 2-1 in the five-match series, Australia must win to avoid consigning Friday’s match in Perth to dead-rubber status.

The home side has made two changes to the side that lost in Sydney on Friday night. Ben Hilfenhaus replaces the injured Nathan Bracken and Cameron White comes in for Nathan Hauritz, who will carry the drinks. Queenslander Ryan Harris was rushed to Adelaide on Sunday afternoon as fast-bowling cover.
 
Ponting said White was included in the XI to bolster the batting depth.

“We feel with White in, if we can get some good quality overs out of him and David Hussey, it gives us more depth in our batting.

“I’d always like him to bowl more because I think he’s got something to offer there,” Ponting said.

Ponting said Australia had been in winning positions in both its losses to South Africa but had suffered bad lapses at crucial times, with bat and ball.

Ponting said that he was happy to approach Monday’s game with a “nothing to lose” attitude and even take heart from being the underdogs.

“Obviously it’s a must-win for us. I think that we’ve seen in the last few games that we know if we play our best cricket we’re going to be very competitive,” he said.