Melbourne, Feb. 4: Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his deputy Michael Clarke, were last night anointed joint winners of the Allan Border Medal in the first tie of the award''s 10-year history.

While the two upstaged favourite Mitchell Johnson, it was the crowning of young batting prodigy Phillip Hughes as the young player of the year that was arguably of more significance given his potential importance to the future of Australian cricket as it confronts a difficult period of generational change.

Sydney, Feb. 2 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has said that he is missing the next two one-day internationals against New Zealand "reluctantly", adding that the decision was made by the selectors alone.

"My absolute priority is to the Australian cricket team. I wanted to play on through the coming week and continue to lead the team in the series against New Zealand. However, the decision was made by the national selection panel as part of their plan to rest all players at appropriate times during this year," Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.

Melbourne, Feb. 2 : Ricky Ponting is opening himself up to "question marks" by taking a break from the current Chappell-Hadlee one-day series between Australia and New Zealand, claimed former captain Steve Waugh.

Ponting will be rested from the next two one-day matches against New Zealand after featuring in every game this summer.

"(With) the players choosing to play the IPL and choosing all these other opportunities, there''s got to be question marks thrown up when people say they want to rest. They''re committing to play more cricket," the Herald Sun quoted Waugh, as saying.

Melbourne, Feb. 2: Uncapped South Australia batsman Callum Ferguson and Western Australia batsman Adam Voges were called into the Australian squad on Monday to replace captain Ricky Ponting and opener Shaun Marsh respectively.

Ponting has been rested while Marsh sustained a hamstring injury in game one in Perth, Fox Sports reports.

Perth, Feb. 2 : Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting is reportedly ready to urge the national selectors to pick Andrew Symonds for the tour of South Africa.

Ponting said he wanted the all-rounder in his squad for "all forms of the game" in South Africa after Australia lost the Test and one-day series at home for the first time in 16 years.

Sydney, Feb 1: Skipper Ricky Ponting believes that Australian selectors should stick with experience as two strenuous tours of South Africa and England are in the offing over six months.

Ponting said he would be advising the team's selection panel that the exhausting schedule would better suit accomplished players such as Phil Jaques.

"I'm not sure if it's a time for us right now in Test cricket to really go all out looking for youth," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying.