Ponting questions Akhtar's attitude

Ricky Ponting has expressed surprise at Shoaib Akhtar's insipid performance with the ball in Australia's second innings in the Melbourne Test, which Pakistan lost by nine wickets. Akhtar, who had been steaming in at around 145kph in the first innings, considerably shortened his run-up and his pace in the second, allowing Australia to canter to their 126-run target for the loss of just one wicket.

Australia started their run-chase ten minutes before lunch on the fourth day, and though they lost Justin Langer during that period, Pakistan could make no further inroads. "We had a bit of a feeling for those couple of overs before lunch that he might have really charged in and let some fly there," Ponting said, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, "but he didn't then, so I wasn't that surprised when he didn't do it after that.

"I don't know whether he was carrying some sort of injury or not, but I would have thought that little spell before lunch and the spell after lunch was the perfect time for someone like him, of his pace, to run in and bowl as quick as he could. I was surprised that he did come off that short run and didn't really extend himself as much as he did in the first innings.

"Maybe they were resigned to the fact that, only having the three bowlers in their side today, they weren't much of a chance of winning so they might have been saving some petrol for Sydney. But I would have been very disappointed if I was the captain and that was my bowler running in and bowling like that, and I knew what he could do."

Akhtar did ping Ponting on the helmet once, even with that shortened run-up, but he generally bowled at less than 140kph and was repeatedly pulled away by both Ponting and Matthew Hayden, and returned figures of none for 35 from seven overs.

Bob Woolmer, the coach, suggested that Akhtar might have been conserving his energy for the Sydney Test, which starts on January 2. "Shoaib Akhtar bowled a lot for someone of his pace and the length of his run-up. I think he was saving his energy for the next Test match."

Woolmer went on to praise Pakistan's performance, terming it a huge improvement from Perth, when they were thrashed by 491 runs. "I think they fought very hard," he said. "I actually feel they did really well. There were one or two decisions that could have gone either way that might have made a difference, specifically when we were batting, and those are the kind of things that sometimes turn a game. For two days I thought we were really competitive. Danish Kaneria just gave everything the whole way through. The fielding was pretty good and I just felt it was a much more positive attitude."