Clarke likely to lead in Sydney

With the Ashes effectively lost and the World Cup less than two months away, Ponting is unlikely to risk further aggravation to his broken left pinkie finger by playing in the Sydney Test starting on Monday.

Ponting is set to become the first Australian since Billy Murdoch in 1890 to lose three Ashes series as captain, adding the ultimate insult to injury.

His injured finger, fractured when he attempted a catch in the third Test in Perth, needs to be rested and with the Sydney Test to start in five days, further practice sessions and match play could do serious damage.

Ponting is determined to claim a fourth successive World Cup trophy in the subcontinent early next year, and with the Ashes gone there will be little to gain from playing in the Sydney dead rubber. He has been forced to take sheltered positions at mid-on and mid-off in this game rather than his customary role at second slip, and has been receiving injections throughout the match.

Clarke would assume the captaincy with a cloud over his own batting form, which is barely better than Ponting's in this series. The vice-captain has skippered Australia in the one-day and Twenty20 formats, but should Ponting rest from Sydney, this would be Clarke's first stint at captaining a side in the longer format at any first-class level.

Opener Shane Watson last night backed Ponting to remain as the Test skipper beyond this series should he so choose, despite the historic loss.

''Of course he can - he's been very, very good to me,'' Watson said. ''[He] always has been and will always be very good around the group.

''He is a brilliant leader, he is as tough as they come mentally. It's unfortunate that he hasn't scored as many runs as he would have liked, but no one will ever question his abilities to lead the group, because of the things he's been able to do and how good he has been to everyone in the Australian cricket team. Ricky doesn't need any encouragement because he's been there and done so much throughout his whole career.

''He is a very, very tough man mentally, as he's shown throughout his whole career, everyone is and always will be right behind Ricky. He has been a brilliant leader for us; I've been lucky enough to be around when he's leading the Australian side.

''Unfortunately it hasn't been the perfect time for him on the run side of things, but it's definitely not far away. He is such an amazing player, a few things going his way he will be able to turn it around.''

Ponting inherited one of the greatest teams in history but his captaincy was nevertheless robust; managing the egos of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath required delicate and stern hands by turn.

Now he has a mixed bag of youngsters eager to impress but stuttering with their starts, established players who often look lost, and veterans who will soon have to take their final bows. Amid this has been the pressure to transform the group into a force resembling the previous generation, and retain his own extraordinary batting feats.

He has failed, and the strain showed when he lambasted umpires Aleem Dar and Tony Hill for the not out decision of Kevin Pietersen in the second session of day two.

Before play yesterday Ponting, in his usual honest style, conceded the time for him to make a positive statement with his batting and leadership was fast running out.

''I understand the judgments that are being made about me, and a lot of those are because I haven't scored the runs I've needed to score," Ponting said on ABC Radio.

''I understand that, understand that criticism that comes my way at the moment is pretty much warranted. I've just got to find a way to get myself out of that.

''There's a series on the line here and we know that we've probably been a bit deficient in the way that we've played in this Test match so far. We have to stand up as a group, I have to stand up as a player and lead from the front.''