Perth, Jan. 29 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is confident that his team will bounce back from the reverses in the Test and one-day series against the South Africans, notwithstanding the poor form of "Mr. Fixit" left-hand batsman Michael Hussey.

Gone are the days when Hussey would routinely rescue Australia or add the late-order icing on the cake to formidable scores.

Hussey, 33, has two half-centuries in all forms of the game this summer.

The return of Michael Clarke means Hussey should drop to No. 5 on Friday in the dead-rubber clash with the Proteas in Perth - but not No. 7 where he plundered 706 runs at 117.6 in 20 one-day innings, is also an option.

"I think in one-day cricket you want to get your best players in as early as you can," Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.

"You know that if you get those guys in, in certain situations they will make bigger scores and get the job done for you. I guess Huss, when Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke are in the side, is a No. 6 player," he added.

"We spoke about everything we wanted to do, but we weren''t good enough to do that," Ponting said.

Hussey struggled for 85 runs in the three-Test series against South Africa at an average of 17, well below the 79.8 he averaged after 16 innings in the baggy green.

In four one-day internationals this summer, Hussey has made 74 runs at 18.5, with a strike rate of 76.

Brilliant South African top-order batsman Hashim Amla said Australia should ride through the rough times with Hussey, a veteran of 97 one-day games.

"Everybody goes through a certain patch. Michael has been a phenomenal cricketer since he''s come into the Australian team, you are bound to make a bigger impact at some time or the other as he has done. "I don''t think we look at it as he''s any lesser player. We still respect him, we know what he is capable of," Amla said. (ANI)