Ponting starts preparation for World Cup
By ANIWednesday, February 2, 2011
MELBOURNE - After a month on the sidelines with a broken finger, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has started preparations for the upcoming World Cup on the Indian sub-continent.
Ponting has been working hard in the gymnasium, where he has trained alongside elite athletes including footballer Mark Milligan and surfer Mark Simpson.
“He’s training hard; he just can’t face blokes bowling at 150km/h at the moment,” the Age quoted Jock Campbell, former Australian team conditioner who has helped Ponting follow the rehabilitation program set down by Cricket Australia, as saying.
“He has started batting against spinners, but he’s really being pushed in endurance and speed sessions. He’s up there with Steve Waugh as one of the toughest athletes I’ve trained,” he added.
Campbell further said that Ponting is bracing himself for the severe conditions he will experience in the World Cup by being locked in a room with room temperature up to 42 degrees.
“All the windows were shut and a few of the other people training at the time complained about the heat. But, as I told them, the reason Ricky has done so well is because he does push himself,” Campbell said.
“Even with his broken finger throbbing and swollen like a balloon, he didn’t complain once. It was a great effort. The great players defy the pain. Anyone who saw what Ricky has been put through in these heat sessions would have to admire his courage and toughness,” he added. (ANI)