Positive signs for Ponting's Boxing Day hopes

Ricky Ponting put in a strong performance at Australia's training session at the MCG on Thursday, significantly easing any doubts over his place for the Boxing Day Test. Ponting fielded well during the drills, although he was using only his right hand and made sure to keep his left well out of the way, to avoid any chance of suffering a knock to his broken little finger.

He will not bat until Friday, but given that this time last year he was nursing a much more serious elbow injury, which couldn't keep him out of a Test against Pakistan, the chances of him missing a Boxing Day encounter with the Ashes on the line are slim. Ponting has not missed a Test since October 2004, and his 72-match streak seems likely to grow to 73.

"If there is ever a Test match you want to play, it's Boxing Day in Melbourne, so I have been doubly determined to make sure I'm fit after suffering a broken little finger in Perth," Ponting wrote in his newspaper column in the Australian. "I'm confident I'll be there playing in front of what we all hope will be a world-record crowd of 91,000 or more at the MCG, because it doesn't get much bigger than this.

"The prognosis has been positive and I fielded yesterday without discomfort. I will bat today and Christmas Day in the nets and see how it pulls up but I will be very surprised if I'm not out in the middle tossing the coin with Andrew Strauss come Boxing Day."

Ponting's batting form is nowhere near his best, and since the end of Australia's home Tests last summer, he has averaged 29.62 and hasn't made a century in nine matches. It's a most un-Ponting-like stretch, but with Australia needing to avoid defeat at the MCG to keep the series alive, his on-field guidance will be important in a side that has six men with 25 or fewer Tests' experience.

"It hasn't hurt me to back off a bit with my finger injury and spend a bit of time with the family, who are in Melbourne for Christmas, just to freshen up," said Ponting. "As team leaders Michael Clarke and I know our performances have to improve. I actually look at our lack of runs as a positive going forward. We just can't keep performing this badly. If you watch us train, it would appear that nothing is amiss. It's not as if we're struggling. Far from it. I feel good and Michael looks as good as he ever has."

"He's our leader and we get a lot of inspiration from him," said Australia's wicketkeeper, Brad Haddin. "He's been a great leader for Australia for a long time and especially with this group of players. You just have to see the turnaround we had from Adelaide to Perth to see the effect he has on the cricket team. It's very important that he plays."

Australia's other selection issue surrounds the makeup of their attack, with the left-arm spinner Michael Beer a strong chance to come in to the side on an MCG surface that will be much slower than at the WACA. The likelihood is that the Victorian Peter Siddle will be left out of a Test in front of his home crowd, but the selectors haven't always taken the most expected option this summer.

"I think if a spinner does come in, it will be a tough call on whoever they leave out," Haddin said. "Ryan [Harris] and Mitch [Johnson] obviously got the results in Perth but look at the spell [Ben] Hilfenehaus bowled, when Mitch was taking the wickets.

"He shut down the scoreboard. And look at the aggressive spells Sidds bowled that made the English batsmen quite uncomfortable. Whoever they decide to go with - it will be a tough decision if they go with three quicks and not four."

Beer bowled in the nets at the MCG on Thursday, and while those practice facilities are familiar to him as a former Victorian squad member, he can't be expected to be overly used to bowling on the ground itself. Beer did not play at the MCG while he was on the fringes of the home state side, and now faces a debut in front of 90,000-plus spectators.

"He's a quality spinner," Haddin said. "The little I have seen of him, he likes the contest and is a very competitive bowler. He's fitted into our group very well and we're looking forward, if he gets his opportunity, to another Australian getting a debut at Test cricket. He'll do Australia and himself proud."