"Ponting is one of the greats"
Vice-captain Michael Clarke said: "Ricky is an amazing player, an amazing leader, someone we all look up to. If anyone deserves to overtake Allan Border, it will be Ricky Ponting.
"He has been a fantastic player for such a long time in all forms of the game, Test and one-day, and in all conditions around the world.
"For me that is a sign of a great player, having longevity in the game and to score runs or take wickets in all different conditions.
"The greats have done that and I definitely see Ricky as one of the greatest players who have ever played this game of cricket."
Clarke said: "Ian is a wonderful player and has been successful around the world.
"We have to study Ian and have a look at where he scores his runs and his weaknesses and that will be part of our preparation today and tomorrow, making sure we have seen a lot of Ian.
"We know he is a good player and we will have to bowl well at him.
"Anytime a very good player is not playing, like Kevin Pietersen, it gives the team a boost but Ian is a very good player himself.
"It is very important we concentrate on Ian now and make sure we are up to speed on the way he plays and we forget about Kevin for a little while."
Clarke said: "Andrew Flintoff is an amazing player. He has been for a long time. I'm not that disappointed I won't have to face him after this series in Test cricket when he retires!
"He is a wonderful bowler and it's always a contest. But I hope he is fit and can finish his series. He certainly deserves that. Unfortunately he will be finishing as a loser!
"He is always up for the big contests. He seems to perform under pressure and no doubt he will be ready on Thursday to give us more stick."
He said: "Things could be better. We could be one-nil up. I think there are things we need to improve with bat and ball.
"The practice game at
"We need to be playing our best cricket to beat
Tags: Simon Katich , Australia , Test , Sydney , Board , Rickey Ponting , Shah , Cook , Swann , England
