PAY FOR PUNTER

Call to lure Ponting back

THE calls are out for Tasmanian cricket great Ricky Ponting to return to the Australian setup given the current crisis and the resignation of coach Darren Lehmann, but his longtime manager says it won’t be happening.

Ponting, 43, has been in discussions with Cricket Australia about a role with the national Twenty20 side but his manager, James Henderson, said there had been no approach about a role with the Test team.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said Ponting and the favourite to replace Lehmann, West Australian coach Justin Langer, were the men to solve the cultural and wider issues that had engulfed Australian cricket.

“Australia should now pay whatever it takes to get Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer to take over and sort out the mess,” Michael Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph. “Both are hugely respected, have great cricket brains and are passionate about their country. They will be desperate to help, I am sure.”

Ponting is in India preparing for his first season in charge of the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.

However, Henderson said Ponting’s family comes first and would mean he would be unable to make the huge commitment to being the national coach with the amount of time spent overseas and interstate.

“He obviously has a coaching opportunity in the IPL, he is still hoping to be part of the new broadcast landscape, he just doesn’t want to be travelling 12 months of the year.

“He’s not in a position to do that at the moment, his family are the priority,” Henderson said, adding discussions about helping the T20 side would continue.