Ponting stands firm on disputed catches

Not for the first time in this tournament, the issue of a fielder being unsure about the legality of a catch cropped up again and Ricky Ponting reiterated his stance on the need for an agreement between captains. As one who's often been vocal on the issue of uncertainty surrounding catches, Ponting revealed that his suggestion for an agreement had been vetoed by captains around the world.

The issue first rose its head during England's clash against the West Indies at Ahmedabad after Dwayne Bravo dismissed Michael Yardy, diving forward - but replays suggested the ball might have bounced just before. Unlike that instance, though, Michael Clarke - who lunged forward to latch on to an airy pat from Jacob Oram - immediately signalled to the umpires that he wasn't sure if the ball had bounced in front of him.

"The way Pup [Clarke] handled that tonight is exactly the way it should be handled," Ponting asserted. "He wasn't 100% sure he caught it. Since I have been captain of this team, I have tried to have an agreement with every opposition captain. I did have until the Super Series last year when we had the annual captains meeting. I pushed it there to all the captains and no one really wanted to agree to it. We are back to where we were earlier with umpires referring to the third umpire which I don't think is necessarily right. But that is the way everyone wants to play."

Stephen Fleming, though, didn't think there could be any sort of agreement on the issue, preferring to take it in a situation-based manner. "I don't think players can really tell when they've taken it or not so it's better to handle it depending on the situation. It's really a player v player thing and I thought it was handled well today."