Wrist causes pain for Ponting

Ricky Ponting will have his right wrist reassessed in Melbourne on Thursday after it caused him some discomfort during the Test series against New Zealand. Ponting is not in doubt for the upcoming matches against South Africa, although a leading sports doctor said the injury could eventually shorten Ponting's career.

The claim has been rejected by Alex Kountouris, the Australia team physiotherapist. "He's got a little bit of pain in his wrist, no more than what other players carry in other parts of their bodies," Kountouris told AAP. "He's really not having anything of significance that he has to miss any games. It would be ridiculous for him to miss any games or any training at this point in time."

Dr Peter Larkins said in an ideal world Ponting would have taken eight to ten weeks off to recover fully but it was likely he would be able to play on with cortisone injections. The latest niggle was believed to be caused by a stabilising screw that was put in the wrist this year.

"In theory it could have an effect on his longevity because of performance being affected, in terms of grip strength, mainly for his batting," Larkins told the Herald Sun. "If he is in pain and distracted by that, and it's compromising his performances from a batsman's point of view, his form might drop away."

The wrist has been a worry for Ponting since July, when he went home early from the West Indies tour to have surgery that repaired tissues that held a tendon in place. He missed Australia's ODI series in Darwin eight weeks later and had regular treatment during his time in India.