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Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is confident his side will pass their character probe from India in the fourth Test after taking heed from some harsh lessons.
Ponting said his men were ready to “force the issue” to win the final Test at Adelaide Oval, which starts tomorrow, and extinguish Indian hopes of claiming a moral victory through a 2-2 squared series after their win in Perth last week.
Ponting said rebounding from defeat was the biggest test for a team which had not tasted defeat over the preceding two years.
“Yeah, maybe it is. I think just individuals rebounding from personal failures is always a charatcer judgement of an individual, so I guess the same can be said for a team,” he said.
“That’s all I’ve said to the guys this week, we’ve lost a game.
“We were always going to lose a game at some stage on this terrific run, but it’s about how you bounce back and how you back your own skills and talent after a loss.
“We’ve had a good look at our cricket from last week and looked at the areas that we didn’t play very well in.
“We’ve addressed those and I know you’ll see us come out this game and be very positive and really try to force the issue in this game.”
However it is likely to take until before the toss for Australia to learn from all their blunders in Perth, as the world champion was today considering again playing Shaun Tait in an all-pace attack.
Tait’s chances of playing his home Test appeared doomed after going wicketless at the WACA Ground, when Ponting admitted he mis-read the wicket in selecting four quicks and then mis-managed the quartet.
But Australia are considering again playing the speedster over wrist spinner Brad Hogg given his strong record in Adelaide for South Australia and his wildcard potential.
Although this wicket should favour the bat and spin bowling, Australia believe Tait’s potential for havoc late in the match could swing the match, similar to the way Ajit Agarkar’s pace spell steered India to victory in 2003.
Selecting Tait would be a major break with tradition, as Australia have never entered an Adelaide Test without a specialist spinner, and several times in the past decade have played two.
Hogg appears favoured to return, but Ponting admitted Tait still held appeal.
“We’ve just got to toss up in our heads whether a spin option is the way to go or if we try to use pace with variable bounce later in the game,” he said.
“When you’ve got a wicket taker like that in the wings it gives you lots of options, but it makes your decision pretty difficult as well.”
Playing four quicks could again pose over-rate trouble, as tardiness compromised Ponting’s bowling options on day three in Perth.
But if Tait played, Ponting planned to bowl part-timers early and stress the importance to keep the rate speedy.
“There were some lessons learnt from the last game, both for me and for the bowlers, and if we happen to go in with four quicks again I’m sure we can manage a bit better,” he said.
Tomorrow’s selection is also a key decision for Hogg, who is yet to cement his Test spot in Stuart MacGill’s absence.
“He’s our best spin bowler in Australia at the moment and when opportunities for him to play a bit of Test cricket over the next couple of years come around, (and) he does get that chance hopefully he will get the job done,” Ponting said.
Morning rain is forecast tomorrow, but the past nine Adelaide Tests have produced results, including last summer’s when England should have saved the match but lost.
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