MANCHESTER: On Saturday morning, Australia knew the win against South Africa here at Old Trafford Cricket Ground would enable them the comforts of Manchester for two more days.
By the late evening, the Aussie camp was packing their bags, in the literal sense. Defeat to South Africa meant they had to travel to Birmingham to face the unflinching Brits at their fortress Edgbaston.
The most successful captain in World Cup history and now the assistant coach of the Australian team, Ricky Ponting admits the injury crisis that’s ravaged Australia is an unprecedented challenge, calling on the five-time champions to find a way to play their best game of the tournament on the biggest stage.
Australia’s defeat on Saturday was compounded with injuries to Usman Khawaja (hamstring) and Marcus Stoinis (side) that saw Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh pulled out of the Australia A tour to join the World Cup squad as cover.
HANDSCOMB TO THE RESCUE
Since Saturday, Usman Khawaja is out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury, while Marcus Stoinis is an injury doubt for Thursday’s semi-final against England at Edgbaston.
Ponting said Peter Handscomb was likely to be thrown into the cauldron against pre-tournament favourites England on Thursday at Edgbaston, while Wade and all-rounder Marsh could also feature if they are officially added to the 15-man squad.
A three-time World Cup-winner – twice as captain – and now Australia’s assistant coach, Ponting admitted the timing of the multiple setbacks marked a unique hurdle for the side that had looked on track to finish top of the standings before their stumble against the Proteas.
AUSSIE HISTORY
Australia also dealt with notable hurdles at the three 50-over trophies Ponting won in 1999, 2003 and 2007. But, asked if he’d had any quite like the ones the team is facing now, the 44-year-old admitted: “Probably not at the end of a tournament.
“I think back to 2003 with (Shane) Warne ruled out before a ball was bowled, (Jason) Gillespie played one game and was ruled out, we had Michael Bevan going into the tournament with injury and Darren Lehmann suspended going in.
“Fast forward to 2007 and Andrew Symonds didn’t play the first half of the tournament. It’s not unusual to have disruptions in World Cups. In the last group game before a semi-final is probably a little bit different.
“If you’re totally honest, it’s not ideal to have these sort of changes going into a World Cup semi-final, especially now we know we’re playing England. They were the favourites coming into the tournament.
REAL TEST
Ponting stressed at the beginning of the tournament that peaking at the back-end of a World Cup must be Australia’s major priority.
The loss to South Africa and their mounting injury toll suggests that may be harder than ever to achieve, but the Tasmanian said they simply must find a way.
