Ponting breaks his own sledging rule

Ricky Ponting wanted Australia to keep quiet when Kevin Pietersen batted on Sunday, but he couldn’t help himself, writes Robert Craddock in the Courier-Mail.

"Pietersen's name came up at a team meeting and I had got the feeling that he is a little like Tugga [Steve Waugh], Matty Hayden and Brian Lara, in that when you have a go at them it makes them play better ... they enjoy it," Ponting said. "I actually said to the team: 'If he starts something, let him go.’ But as soon as he started, I could not help myself. I jumped all over the top of him. It wasn't great leadership as far as I was concerned. But I am not sorry I did it."

With Australia set to play a record 20 Tests next year, Chloe Saltau writes in the Sydney Morning Herald it is unlikely they will take part in a lucrative Twenty20 carnival in the West Indies.