Ponting arrives to catch them young

Ponting arrives to catch them young
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JULY 4: Australian batsman Ricky Ponting gave another indication of the bookie-cricketer nexus prevalent in the game while disclosing that he too had been approached by ``a bookie in Australia a couple of years ago''.

Refusing to delve into the affair, the 26-year-old Tasmanian said, ``I had informed the authorities about it.''

The former Australian vice-captain dwelt on the issue while answering queries at an interactive session with mediapersons here on Tuesday afternoon. Ponting will be donning the role of a coach during his brief stay in India and will conduct coaching clinics for budding under-19 and under-16 cricketers. The first of three clinics organised by a cricket website will be held here on Wednesday. The other two clinics will be held at Bangalore (July 7) and Delhi (July 9).

Expressing his unhappiness at the raging match-fixing controversy afflicting the game, Ponting felt the ICC (International Cricket Council) and the (ACB) Australian Cricket Board have been putting up a good effort to root out the malaise. ``The sooner it is cleaned up the better,'' he remarked.

Commenting on the steps that the ACB has taken to stem the rot, he said, ``All players are handed out a list of do's and don't's before every series. So now, we know what preventive steps are to be taken if and when a bookmaker approaches us.''

Dismissing a query whether he suspected any of the matches that he played were rigged, Ponting said, ``As far as I'm concerned, all the matches I have played for Australia have been clean.''

Out of the team for six months owing to an ankle injury, he was hopeful of making a comeback in the three-match one-day series against South Africa to be played indoors in Australia.

Ponting, who has imparted advice to children above five years during the age-group camps conducted back home, was hopeful of ``unearthing a few Tendulkars and Kumbles'' during his stint here. The Aussie, who is also an excellent fielder, underlined by his amazing regularity in hitting the stumps, will be focussing on the finer aspects of fielding during the clinic. ``The preparations before each game and how to adapt to different match situations are some of the areas that will be dwelt upon,'' he added.