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Australian captain Ricky Ponting will have surgery on his fractured finger on Tuesday as he fights to be fit in time to take part in the World Cup campaign in February.
Ponting suffered the fracture during the third Test in Perth and it worsened when he took it through the fourth in Melbourne, where the Ashes were lost to England.
He is missing from the XI for the final Test at Sydney, though remains a visible presence at training and in the dressing room.
Ponting has said that he has no thoughts of retirement or giving up the Australian captaincy, and is committed to the effort to lift the country’s fourth World Cup in succession after victories in 1999, 2003 and 2007.
“That (I’ve played my last Test) is not in my thinking at all,” said Ponting.
“I want to keep playing, I’ve made that pretty clear not only this week but right through the summer.
“I think I’ve got a lot to offer as a player and as the captain of the Australian team and I want to continue to do that, so unfortunately I can’t play this week, it’s probably going to mean I’m going to miss the one dayers in Australia as well.
“But with a World Cup around the corner I want to be the best player and leader I can through that tournament and hopefully win our fourth consecutive World Cup would be great.
“And I want to play Test cricket post-World Cup as well, so that’s what’s in the future for me.”
The surgery is not expected to impinge upon Ponting’s recovery time, which should allow him to be batting in time for Australia’s pre-tournament practice matches against India and South Africa.
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