"There could be up to eight guys who might not ever play Test cricket again in this touring squad. That's a big number... half the squad," Ponting was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.
Australia will have to win both Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to go one point clear of South Africa, who displaced them at the top in July, but there is still little clarity about the side who would walk out for the first match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
With Wimbledon scrapped due to the pandemic, a flashback of some of the best moments from the last five championships at SW19.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Following the retirements of Chris Rogers, captain Michael Clarke and all-rounder Shane Watson, Smith will lead a team in transition into the three-match series which wraps up with cricket's first day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.
The 16-year-old backed his aggressive backhand throughout the contest and went on to win 17 of his 23 points at the net to seal victory in 61 minutes.
Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson has admitted that he considered calling it quits after four of his closest teammates retired from the Test arena following the team's failure to retain the Ashes series against England.
Defiant and angry Australian captain Michael Clarke has vowed to keep playing on after the Ashes series with England, with those suggesting he was finished talking "a complete load of rubbish".
Andy Murray embarks on his first Grand Slam campaign as world number one with much stronger title credentials, even if he has lost five finals at Melbourne Park.
A patient Roger Federer weathered a second set storm from Grigor Dimitrov before slapping down the Bulgarian challenger 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open and clinch his 300th win in Grand Slams.
Factbox World Cup match between Australia and England at the MCG.
Order of play on the main showcourts on the first day of the June 23-July 6 Wimbledon tennis championships on Monday.
Kei Nishikori has set his sights on making a grand slam breakthrough in 2017 after the Japanese world number five concluded a successful season in which he claimed one ATP Tour title, an Olympic medal and recorded a career-high 58 wins.
There were glimpses of the formidable Rafa Nadal as the eight-times champions swept aside French Open champion Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4 on Friday to reach the Monte Carlo Master semi-finals.
'We knew it was going to be tough conditions, for us it was about leaving and respecting good deliveries. Me and Chris left well which put us in a great position'
From bashing big scores to firing back a few choice words at sledging opponents, the captaincy is fitting Australia's Steven Smith well, according to opening batsman Chris Rogers.
Bowling 33 overs without success in England's second Test defeat by Australia at Lord's knocked the confidence of paceman James Anderson who returned to form with a bang on Wednesday.
Steven Smith to pick Ricky Ponting's brain for captaincy tips.
Recently retired Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has named No 1 ranked AB de Villiers as the most difficult batsman he had faced during his glorious international career.
Images from the Laureus World Awards held in Monaco on Tuesday
Roger Federer bounced back from his crushing French Open final defeat to advance into the second round of the Halle Open with a 6-4, 6-2 win over German Michael Berrer on Wednesday. Defending champion Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, seeded three, suffered a 6-2, 7-5 second-round loss to Sweden's Robin Soderling, who pounded down 13 aces.
Although Steve Smith was named man of the match after scoring 273 runs it was Australia's rejuvenated pace bowlers who made the biggest statement in their side's brutal mauling of England in the second Ashes Test.
Roger Federer recovered to beat Germany's Michael Berrer 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors.
Black Lives Matter was stenciled onto NFL fields and NBA courts. Athletes raised fists and took the knee.
Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher and Tiger Woods are all in the running for a third Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.
World number one Roger Federer practised with a new coach at Portugal's Estoril Open on Saturday in an attempt to recover from a poor start to the 2008 season and improve his claycourt game. Spaniard Jose Higueras, 55, who won 15 ATP titles and helped American Michael Chang win the French Open aged just 17 in 1989, coached the Swiss for over two hours on centre court.
A disciplined England attack shrugged off the challenge of a bland Adelaide Oval wicket to limit Australia to 273-5 and leave the second Ashes Test delicately poised after the opening day on Thursday.
Australia dominated with bat, ball and in the field to post their second successive innings victory over Pakistan
The tri-series in Australia, India's final ODI engagement before the World Cup, gets underway on January 16, says Chandresh Narayanan, casting a fascinating look at the survivors from earlier World Cups.
Day 4 in the first Test was dominated by Australian performances. First, spinner Nathan Lyon bagged his sixth five-wicket haul as India were dismissed for 444 in the first innings. Then, opener David Warner continued in his sublime form and struck his second century of the match as the home side put up 290 for five in their second innings, an overall lead of 363 runs. Here are images from Friday's play at the Adelaide Oval.
The US Open is the biggest tournament in America's tennis calendar. Enough reason for the big personalities from Hollywood, former tennis champions and other celebrities to catch their favourite tennis stars in action.
Former world number two Tommy Haas officially announced his retirement from tennis at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Thursday, ending a career that spanned more than two decades.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva was named World Sportswoman of the Year.
The world number one crushed Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 6-4 in the Swiss Indoors second round.
Roger Binny, the former Karnataka and India cricketer talks about India's lack of genuine allrounders, India's poor fielding, India's chances in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Andy Roddick and Nadia Petrova suffered a recurring nightmare, sliding out in the first round for the second year running.
Australia bundled out England for a paltry 103 in their second innings to win the second Test match at Lord's on Sunday by a massive margin of 405 runs on the fourth day.
The Swiss needs to win in Paris to join Don Budge and Rod Laver as the only men to hold all four slams at the same time.
