Perth, Jan. 31: Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and other senior players will seek to boost the confidence of the younger players following Australia''s 4-1 one-day series loss to South Africa.

Ponting said it is important that the team starts afresh for their five-game series against New Zealand, which begins in Perth on Sunday.

Perth, Jan. 30 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has played down workload issues regarding the IPL, and said that it will not affect the team's preparations for the Ashes this year.

Heading into his fifth month of international cricket without a break, Ponting denied there was too much cricket, but questioned the tightly packed scheduling of Test series with New Zealand and South Africa this summer.

Perth, Jan. 29 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is confident that his team will come up trumps in 2009, but adds that he knows that now is the time to reflect, rebuild and regroup.

In an article for The Australian, Ponting says "As I look around the sporting world, there are all sorts of encouraging signs for the future which give me heart that we will soon be consistently back on the winners'' list again."

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.

Perth, Jan. 28 : Batsman and vice-captain Michael Clarke''s return from injury will not only bolster a seriously depleted Australia team, but should soon give Ricky Ponting the chance to take a much-needed rest, reports The Australian.

Ponting has been superman as his team disintegrated around him this summer, playing all nine Tests, two Twenty20 games and four one-day matches in a relentless four-month stint on the road.

Adelaide, Jan. 27 : Skipper Ricky Ponting has taken responsibility for Australia''s limp surrender to South Africa in this summer''s one day series, as also the preceding Test series between the two sides.

No touring side has won a Test and one-day series in Australia since Richie Richardson''s West Indians in 1992-93.