Australian captain Ricky Ponting has come to the defence of Andrew Symonds, who was viewed harshly by ICC appeals commissioner Justice John Hansen in the Harbhajan Singh racism appeal.
Hansen questioned Symonds’ sportsmanship, placing blame on the Australian all-rounder for beginning the infamous row with Harbhajan.
“What I do know is he’s a terrific bloke, a very honest bloke, and he’s a great team mate of mine, so I’ll stick up for him at every possible opportunity,” Ponting said ahead of the Twenty20 game against India in Melbourne.
Ponting admitted he’s struggled to cope with the constant headlines the racial case has brought since Sydney.
“It’s consumed us all for a long time. It’s been on mind for four weeks, really. From the moment it happened, I’ve been thinking about all this stuff.”
The Australian skipper says there is a score to settle with the Indians, however it has little to do with events at the SCG. The last time the two sides met in this form of the game was in the semi-finals of the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, won by eventual champions India.
“They’ve definitely got a very good outfit. They played very well a little while ago,” Ponting said. “For us, maybe there are some scores to settle. We do want to get out there. ”
“Keep a really close eye on us and our Twenty20 cricket.”
Security will be beefed up for the near sell-out MCG match, after revelations of text messages circulating throughout Melbourne were brought to light, urging Australian fans to make life as uncomfortable as possible for Indian supporters. Ponting made it clear he did not want the crowd to take matters into its own hands.
“They should approach turning up tomorrow the way we want to be received when we tour any other country in the world.
“Enjoy the game for what it is.”
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