AUSTRALIAN skipper Ricky Ponting has been rested from today's dead-rubber one-day international against Sri Lanka to help him prepare for the looming Ashes series.
The hook and pull shots have been the Tasmanian's bread and butter throughout his career but have increasingly been a route to his downfall in the past 12 months.
Instead of travelling to Brisbane for Sunday's third and final ODI at the Gabba, Ponting, who also missed Wednesday night's one-wicket loss at the MCG, will now head to Tasmania to prepare for the Tigers' Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.
'As the series against Sri Lanka has been decided [the selectors have] an ideal opportunity to provide Ricky with two solid weeks of red-ball cricket,'' said selector Greg Chappell. ''This allows him what we believe to be the best preparation to lead the Australian Test match team in Brisbane for the first Ashes Test match.''
''We have to start playing the brand of cricket we know we can play and getting the winning feeling back again. We haven't had it for a while.''
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