Encouraging report on Ponting’s finger gives boost to Oz World Cup campaign
By ANISaturday, January 29, 2011
MELBOURNE - After receiving an encouraging report on skipper Ricky Ponting’s broken finger, Australia’s World Cup campaign has received a huge boost.
Ponting came to know that he could be back in the nets batting within 10 days after the Australian team suffred a series of injuries like muscle strain to Shaun Tait and hamstring problem of Michael Hussey.
Sidelined since the Boxing Day Test, Ponting was assessed by Melbourne specialist Greg Hoy on Thursday.
He is expected to have his splint removed at the weekend, with Dr Hoy advising Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris to now step up Ponting’s rehabilitation.
The 36-year-old may still miss two World Cup warm-up matches to safeguard his finger but his positive progress will buoy Australia’s spirits ahead of the showpiece tournament.
“We saw the specialist yesterday and he was reasonably happy with how Ricky is going. It’s an encouraging sign,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Kountouris, as saying.
“We’ll see what happens in the next week or two. We’ll progress to the next stage now; we’ll get his hand moving a bit and get it out of the splint hopefully by the weekend. Until he picks up the bat again you don’t know his hand will respond,” he said. (ANI)
