Ponting advises Clarke on slump

Ricky Ponting has counselled Michael Clarke about the pressures of maintaining youthful batting form as Australia's golden child suffers his first Test slump. Clarke, who had a mix of tonsilitis and food poisioning before the Wellington draw, burst into the game with hundreds on home-and-away debut, but since his 141 at the Gabba he has added 106 runs in seven attempts.

The New Zealand tour has included a pair of 8s and Ponting said he took Clarke, 23, aside at the Basin Reserve to talk about the dangers of being young and talented. Ponting is a perfect example after making 96 as a 20-year-old on debut and then running into troubles on and off the field.

"I had a really good chat to him during the last Test about coming in and getting off to a flying start in Test cricket and things not going as you would like them to," Ponting said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "As a young bloke you want to make things happen quickly and you want to go out there and play the best you can on every occasion. It just doesn't work that way."

Ponting took his time working out his best method of preparation and dealing with patches of below-par form, and he said it would be difficult for Clarke to maintain his high standards. "His demeanour hasn't changed at all," he said. "He's got very high expectations of himself and he wants to do very well at this level. He's been a little disappointed with the way he has played in the first two Test matches."

Clarke has completed extra net sessions this week to prepare for tomorrow's Test - his 12th - and also found the comeback tales of Lance Armstrong and Sugar Ray Leonard for motivation. "He's worked hard and he feels as though he's hitting the ball better now," Ponting said. "I would expect runs aren't very far away for him at all."

New Zealand have picked the Marshall twins and Ponting said James would be under pressure following his brother Hamish's stunning century in the first Test at Christchurch. "He'll have those things in the back of his mind and then to come out and face our attack, which is a very, very good one, will make it even harder for him," he said. Ponting couldn't tell the brothers apart when they wore the same shoes during the one-day series, but James will be opening and Hamish will bat No. 3.