Depth in Australian cricket not where it needs to be, says Ponting

Melbourne [Australia], August 14 (ANI): Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said that the depth of cricket talent in the country is not where it needs to be right now.
Ponting's remarks came as Australia suffered a 1-4 defeat in the five-match T20I series against Bangladesh. Earlier, the side had stumbled to a series loss by the same margin against West Indies.
"The lack of knowhow and skill in those conditions brought us undone again. It's been the achilles heel for Australian cricket for as long as I can remember - more so in Test cricket, but we've always found a way to be very competitive in Sri Lanka and India in white-ball cricket. Just goes to show the depth around Australia cricket is not where it needs to be so there's some work to do there," Ponting told Tim Paine on the Test captain's SEN radio show, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

"The T20 World Cup is not far away so hopefully we get all the boys fit and healthy, because I still think with everyone fit and healthy in the UAE that Australian team can push really hard to win the title. Let's keep our fingers crossed we can put our strongest XI on the field," he added.
David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell were not a part of Australia's squad for the T20I series against West Indies and Bangladesh.
"There were a lot of names not there...but it almost seemed they got worse during that series. There's no doubt those conditions were really difficult, but that's the worry for me. They've been there long enough and done some training on wickets you'd have thought were quite similar to what they played on yet the further the series went, whether a lack of confidence or skill or game awareness, I'm sure they would have been shattered," said Ponting.
The T20 World Cup will be played in the UAE in October-November this year. Before the marquee event, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 14th edition will also resume in the region and it will provide an opportunity for everyone to get used to the conditions.
"There's no doubt it's their best preparation, in those exact conditions playing probably the strongest domestic T20 tournament in the world. I'm not saying it just because I want some of the Australian players there with Delhi, but it sounds like our domestic season will be pushed back so they'll be no domestic cricket here before the T20 World Cup, so preparation wise it's spot on," said Ponting.
"Not sure if they'll be any restrictions on the bowlers going there, there may well be, but certainly the guys like Smith, Davey, Maxi, Stoinis who have been out of cricket for three or fourth months they need to get back into the groove," he added. (ANI)