Australian skipper Ricky Ponting,who has been ruled out of the fifth Test of the Ashes series against England because of further damage to his broken finger,has backed Usman Khawaja to replace him at No. 3 in a revamped batting order. The skipper sang praises of Khawaja before delivering a heartfelt apology to Australian supporters after England stormed to a 2-1 series lead with victory in Boxing Day Test. Everything Ive seen of Usman,Ive been very impressed with what hes been able to do. His first-class record is very,very good. Technically,he looks as good as any of the young blokes weve got, Ponting said. You need to have that really solid technique if you want to stand up at No.3 at Test level, The Herald Sun quoted him,as saying. Michael Beer is likely to be named in the squad today,but if Khawaja is given a debut at the SCG either the specialist spinner or Steve Smith will miss out on a start.
