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Journalism of Courage
Ricky Ponting said today Australia were ready for the ‘‘antics’’ of Pakistan’s express bowler Shoaib Akhtar in next month’s home three-Test series.
Ponting turned his sights on the Pakistani tourists after Australia mopped up an emphatic 213-run Adelaide Test victory to sweep a two-match series over mis-matched New Zealand here.
The Pakistanis arrived in Perth yesterday armed with the ‘Rawalpindi Express’, who along with Australian Brett Lee, ranks as the fastest bowler in world cricket.
‘‘Akhtar tries to get under your skin a little bit, as he did in the last tour of Australia but the good thing is that we’ve had some good success against him, so we don’t need to build it up too much or say too much back to him,’’ Ponting said.
‘‘He can do whatever he wants to put us off but it will be a challenge for us to be as strong as we can and to make sure we’re doing the job with the bat. I’m sure all those antics will continue on in this next series and I’m sure we’ll enjoy it as well.’’
