Ponting offers hope to Queensland all-rounder Hopes

MELBOURNE - Dropped Australian all-rounder James Hopes has received support from captain Rick Ponting ahead of next February’s cricket World Cup.

“James has been a very valuable member of our one-day setup for the last three or four years now,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying.

“The fact he’s not in this squad at the moment gives him a chance to go back to Queensland and get some really good form under his belt again.

We’re looking at giving a few players a bit of experience and finding out a bit about them before the World Cup,” Ponting added.

“We only have a few games to look at some of these players, you need a lot of depth and you need a lot of guys to have exposure at international level before you can go into a World Cup. That’s a bit of the thinking behind some of the selections at the moment,” Ponting said.

Queensland coach Trevor Barsby said he would be “disgusted” if the axing marked the end of Hopes’ international career and added the omission left him “dumbfounded”. (ANI)