Ponting brushes off spectator incident

Ricky Ponting has confirmed that he "exchanged words" with a spectator during an unfortunate incident in last week's third Test at Edgbaston, but suggested that a shortcoming in the ground's security arrangements was to blame rather than the boisterous nature of the crowd. Overall, he said, he still believes that England's cricket fans are among the best sports supporters in the world, and that the banter from the boundary's edge has, by and large, been a welcome feature of the series so far.

The incident, which the Sky cameras chose not to televise, took place on Sunday evening as Ponting returned to the pavilion after being bowled by Graeme Swann. "The spectator was actually leaning over the grandstand and gave me a bit of a gobful as I got out," said Ponting. "And as it turned out, he was later thrown out of the ground so he was probably in the wrong, doing what he did.

"We exchanged words," he said. "It's a security thing more than anything else. Where we walked on and off was very close to the vicinity of all the spectators, so if there's one place in the world where a security guard should have been standing, it was right there. It's been well documented in the last few weeks that I've copped a bit from the crowds, so it wasn't a big deal at all. It was just a few words that I didn't think needed to happen."

Trailing 1-0 with two Tests to come, Ponting stands on the verge of becoming the first Australian captain in more than 100 years to lose two series in England. He has been jeered routinely for the past two matches, ever since his comments in the aftermath of the Cardiff Test, and while he feels a lot of the vitriol is unnecessary, there is a part of him that wants the abuse to continue.

"If I actually play well I get booed more, so hopefully I get booed more," he said. Ponting is treating the issue lightly but Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has asked fans at Headingley to respect Australia's captain during Friday's fourth Test.

After the opening draw in Wales, Ponting questioned Andrew Strauss's time-wasting tactics and since then has been shouted at every time he has walked out to bat. The crowd at Edgbaston was particularly noisy last week - although the supporters did stand when Ponting became Australia's all-time leading run-scorer, a fact which he himself acknowledged - and the Australians can expect another raucous experience this week in Leeds, which is notorious for its Western Stand.

Ponting joked Clarke's plea should have been made three Tests ago. "It comes with the territory of being an Australian cricket captain in this part of the world," he said. "There's not much I can do about it. I'll just take it with a grain of salt. I've almost expected it after the first day at Lord's. It's no skin off my nose. If anything it just makes me more determined to play well.

"It happens everywhere around the world, and it's no bigger deal here than in other series around the world, to be honest. I've actually really enjoyed a lot of the spectator participation in the series. The Barmy Army, as I've always said, are the best group of sports supporters I've seen in any sport in the world. They come to the cricket to enjoy themselves, and it's small minorities that make days a little bit disappointing for others."

Strauss called for the supporters to get behind his team, but also asked them not to cross the line with Ponting. "I do empathise with him a little bit," he said. "I think booing him in those circumstances is a bit over the mark, but I think our supporters generally are fantastic. There's a bit of light-hearted ribbing there and that's the way it should be, and certainly what we'll get when we [go to Australia].

"I think supporters should always be mindful of being respectful to players and I'm very confident the supporters here this week will get that balance pretty much spot-on," he added. "They generally do and if they do that, they're going to be as supportive as possible to our team which is what we want to see.

"I don't think it was not malicious to be honest with you. It's just the way it's construed more than anything. In a way it's probably a sign of respect for him. You just don't want to see things develop and get worse and worse and worse to the extent there's genuine abuse of opposition players - no-one wants to see that. But some light-hearted ribbing is obviously both entertaining and quite helpful."

The Headingley authorities have responded to the Edgbaston incidents by promising to clamp down on unruly behaviour, and have banned flags, musical instruments and the stacking of empty pint pots to create "beer snakes". Ponting, however, was unconvinced such measures were necessary. "I think you can definitely go too far the other way," he said. "You're not going to stop someone who has something to say.

"These complaints haven't come from us, the Australian team or the players," he stressed. "Ii think it's been the administrators at some of the venues who have been disappointed with how the crowds have reacted, so it's out of our hands. There's nothing I can do about it, nothing the team can do about it, and to a certain extent, there's nothing the administrators can do about it either. You can't have one security guard per spectator in the ground."

"I don't think anyone wants to see the crowd sit there in silence," said Strauss. "We want to see them be as supportive as possible. If that means that when we get a wicket there's huge roars and people revving up a great atmosphere, then that's absolutely fantastic. There's a line you don't want to cross in terms of abuse of opposition players but as I've said before, English crowds have generally been pretty good at that."

In Cardiff Ponting stroked 150, but since then he has struggled with 2, 38, 38 and 5 as the obstacles to the team's success have grown. His side starts the fourth Test one win behind and the repercussions of another defeat in the final two games are severe: Australia will drop to fourth on the rankings and Ponting will join Billy Murdoch as their country's only captains to have lost twice in England.

Strauss is more interested in winning the urn than knocking Australia from the top spot and Ponting said the ranking "means nothing to us". "That's been a thing that's happened as the result of some long sustained periods of very good cricket," he said. "Never is it mentioned around the group, never is it mentioned in team meetings, because at the end of the day all we can control is our performances."

Despite the gloom, Ponting is boosted by an impressive record at Leeds, where he averages 114.33 in two games. It was here that he was recalled in 1997, scoring 127 for his maiden Test century, and four years later he followed with 144 and 72, although he could not stop Mark Butcher from stealing the victory.

"It does make you feel a bit better when you turn up," he said. "Things look familiar and you have good memories. My first Test hundred was here, that's a great memory, and the last time I played here I got a hundred. Let's hope it's three out of three at the end of the week." If he can do that even the England fans will cheer.