Ponting to miss ODI series

Australia captain Ricky Ponting will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair his fractured finger in a bid to be fit for the World Cup in February.

He will miss Australia's seven-match Commonwealth Bank Series against England this month.

Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said on Tuesday night said the 36-year-old's left little finger must go under the knife as soon as possible if he is to be fully fit for the tournament on the subcontinent.

"Ricky had further x-rays today on his fractured finger which have shown that the bone fragment has further displaced and will not heal without surgery. As such Ricky will have surgery tomorrow," Kountouris said.

Ponting, who last week surrendered the Ashes to England for the third time as captain, broke the finger attempting a slips catch in Australia’s win over England in the third Test in Perth.

The right-hander aggravated the injury during the next game in Melbourne and was ruled out of the final Test in Sydney.

Ponting said he was "devastated" to miss the dead rubber and the injury completed a miserable couple of months for the number three batsman, who scored only 113 runs in eight Ashes innings, with an average of 16.14.

Although Australia's next Test is not until August, chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch hoped Ponting would return to help his side re-discover form.

"We look forward to Ricky completing his recovery and leading this team to a fourth successive World Cup on the sub-continent at the completion of the Australian summer," Hilditch said recently.