Ricky Ponting rejects retirement talk

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says he hasn't given retirement a second thought.

Ponting, who turns 36 on Sunday, has previously expressed his desire to play on until the 2013 Ashes series in England.

However, an outright defeat at the hands of the Poms in Adelaide as well as the captain's own lean form with the bat has led several past players to publicly question his position in the side.

But Ponting, who is staring down the barrel of consecutive Ashes series defeats as captain, believes he still has plenty to offer Australian cricket.

"Because I love the game so much and love playing so much, of course I would love to go back in 2013 and actually walk off The Oval with some good memories for a change."

"But as I've said right through this summer as well, I know questions are always going to be asked of me if I'm not playing well. How long are you going to play? Are you going to retire? Is it going to be at the end of the series? Is it going to be after the World Cup? When is it going to be?"

"And I honestly don't know where the finish line is."

"If I think that I can play at a level that I can contribute to winning games for Australia then I'll keep playing."

"If I don't think I can and I don't think that I'm good enough to bat for Australia then I'll walk away, simple as that."

Asked how he copes with the growing criticism from some of his former peers including Warne, Ponting, who is contracted to Cricket Australia until July 2012, replied: "I think you just have to understand the position that some of these past players are put in. I mean they're employed by different media outlets to give their opinions and their views on things."

"But we've just got to now stand up with our actions. Stop all the talking and stop all the meetings that we're having and make sure we're playing the way we know we can play."

"And I'm sure if we do that and the guys play to their ability and play with a bit of instinct and a bit of that Aussie fight then I'm sure we can work our way back into the series pretty quickly."

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