Only form remains a concern

Vice captain Michael Clarke said Ponting told him he was pleased with how Fridays session went. He said it felt pretty good after facing some balls on the machines and facing the bowlers in the nets, Clarke said. Were all hopeful and confident. Unless they cut his finger off,its going to be really hard to leave Punter Ponting out.

Hes going to have to wait until tomorrow to see how it pulls up after having a bat today. But hes pretty happy with how things went.

Uncapped New South Wales state player Usman Khawaja is on standby for Ponting,who will not be able to take up his regular fielding spot in the slips if he does play.

Ponting has struggled in this Ashes series and could be the first Australian captain to lose the Ashes series three times. However,Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said Ponting played a key role in rallying the side for its confidence-boosting win in Perth last week,despite Clarke taking the field as skipper on the fifth day when an injured Ponting sat in the pavilion.