Injured Ponting wows to be at MCG, after Perth win

Australia took only 50 minutes to finish off England and take the remaining five wickets for a series squaring 1-1 win. X-rays last night revealed a hairline fracture to Ponting's little finger of the left hand after the Australian skipper fumbled a catch late on day three. Ricky Ponting, on his 36th birthday: "There's no better birthday present than that, to bounce back like this. I'm a bit sore today, I wanted more than anything to be able to go out there and field, but I had to err on the side of caution. Another knock on the finger could have been disastrous. I think I'm a really good chance of playing the Boxing Day Test.". Andrew Strausssaid "We were in quite a good position but a very good spell of bowling by Mitchell Johnson brought Australia back into the game. You've got to give them credit.We've also got to retain a sense of perspective". 3rd Test, Day 4, Perth. Dec 2010