Ponting urges his team to seize moment

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has urged his players to seize their opportunities in the remaining four Ashes Tests against England after the first Test in Brisbane ended in a draw.

“Winning Test matches is never about one, two, three or four outstanding performances,” Ponting wrote in his column for The Australian newspaper. “This series is all about contributing when we get our opportunities.” England, who had conceded a 221-run first inning deficit, batted for most of the final two days to post 517 for one at the Gabba.

The Australians’ performance, particularly that of their bowlers, has come under intense scrutiny as the sides finalise preparations for the second match in Adelaide starting on Friday.

“England was the same in Brisbane. They had a few of their batters go very well and (Steve) Finn took six of their 11 wickets,” Ponting said.

“If you want to take the cold, hard figures from the game, they’re in exactly the same boat as us.

“Reading some of the reports, it almost looked like England had won, but it’s still nil-all and there were some real positives to come out of the game.”

Ponting singled out centuries by Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin and the bowling of Peter Siddle, who took a first innings hat-trick, plus Ben Hilfenhaus in England’s second innings as important contributions.

“I sat down with nearly all the players after the game the other night in Brisbane, the bowlers in particular, and spoke to them one-on-one about how they felt they went and how they could improve,” he added. “If you look at the last match, there were only a few who had any impact on that game whatsoever. “We need nine or 10 of the 11 making an impact in Adelaide if we’re going to win the Test.” Australia are expected to name their team after training on Thursday, with local media already speculating that Mitchell Johnson will be replaced by fellow left-arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger.

Queensland fast bowler Ryan Harris is also tipped to play, though the selectors will need to find out how much his knee has recovered from surgery and whether he can get through a heavy workload on what has traditionally been a friendly batting pitch at the Adelaide Oval.

Johnson dropped for second Test

PACE bowler Mitchell Johnson has been dropped from the Australia squad for the second Ashes Test against England.

Johnson, the 2009 ICC Cricketer of the Year, finished the first Test in Brisbane with figures of 0-170 as England batted for two days to rescue a draw.

“Mitchell Johnson is out of the 12 so we’re down to the other quickies,” captain Ricky Ponting said at the Adelaide Oval.

“The selectors felt he was down on a bit of form and down on a bit of rhythm and that was highlighted in the last match. And as we all know Test match cricket is hard enough without having to try and find that kind of thing as well.”

His departure leaves Australia with a 12-man squad for the Test, which starts on Friday, with Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris both vying for their Ashes debut.