Ponting's local knowledge in demand

A consequence of Simon Katich's removal from Australian team is that Ricky Ponting is the only member of the Sri Lanka tour squad to have played a Test match on the island.

Australia's captain, Michael Clarke, was a member of the touring squad in 2004 but did not make his Test debut until the visit to India later that year.

Australia's 3-0 victory in 2004 arrived in fighting fashion. The hosts led on the first innings in all three Tests before the batting of Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann, among others, allowed Shane Warne to spin out Sri Lanka in the fourth innings.

It was a momentous way for Ponting to start his captaincy, but now he will be the man handing out advice on Sri Lankan climes to his successor Clarke and his team-mates.

"As it turns out I think I am the only player that has played Test cricket over there so I will be giving him [Clarke] advice all over the place I think when the Test matches come around," Ponting said with a smile before flying to Sri Lanka.

David Hussey has already spoken of the challenge to be posed by pitches designed to favour the hosts, but Ponting said his best advice would be to play the conditions on merit, not suspicion.

"One thing we can't afford to do, especially when you go anywhere on the subcontinent, is worry too much about wicket conditions," Ponting said. "In the past we have talked ourselves into what we think conditions are going to be like before we actually started, and made things increasingly difficult for ourselves. There wont be any talk about that.

"We've got plenty of time to get prepared. We've got five days of training before the one-dayers come around and Michael and I are not playing Twenty20 cricket, but we've got five one dayers before the tour game, so there is plenty of opportunity for us and there should be no excuses come Test time."

For his part, Clarke said Ponting's presence would be far more of a help than a hindrance when he is figuring out how to combat a Sri Lankan team that possesses one of the deepest and most statistically accomplished batting line-ups in world cricket.

"We've caught up a few times over the last couple of months. We spent a lot of time up in Brisbane chatting about the team and a few of my ideas and I was trying to get a bit of guidance from him," Clarke said. "That's the advantage the team has, we have such a great player around the group, who's had some amazing success not only as a batsman but as a leader, and we'd be silly not to utilise that as much as we can.

"One thing he's said to me is that he's there for me, anything I need he's more than happy to help. With him not being captain it's given him the chance to spend more time with the younger players. He's been spending time with Usman [Khawaja] over the last couple of days, so I'm really looking forward to working with Ricky.

"He was great to me when I was vice-captain and he taught me a hell of a lot, and I feel comfortable in my position knowing that I have learned a lot from him and that he's right there as well if I need any help or guidance."