Little bit disappointing the way World Cup ended: Ponting

Bridgetown, Barbados, Apr 29 (UNI) Ricky Ponting, the man who led Australia to the historic third successive title win, surprised every body when he said he was little bit disappointed the way World Cup finished off.

''It turned out to be a premature celebration,'' Ponting admitted when asked how he felt being asked by the umpires to bowl again after the match was called-off.

''I thought it was a joke. They (umpires) were just, just playing a prank by stopping our celebrations,'' he said, adding the whole issue arose due to some miscommunication.

''The people watch the match back home (Australia) and other places must have been surprised what was going on. The final could have had a better ending,'' he said referring to the bizarre incident on the field when the match was stopped and then restarted again.

On winning the title for the third time on a trot, Ponting lavished praise on his teammates, saying ''To be one of this group of players has been very, very special. It's unbelievable what we've been able to achieve.'' He also did not forget the back up support the team received, saying ''The extended team and support staff have given us the opportunity to prepare the best we possibly could and then go and play some great cricket.

''Everything came together for us really well.'' ''There was one difference between the two teams today and that was Adam Gilchrist. It was an unbelievable innings and something to behold,'' Ponting said of his deputy.

He also felt that the highly-successful opening combination of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist should not contemplate retirements for at least two years. As Australia's new line-up begins to take shape after a spate of retirements, he said he needed two of his major batsmen to continue helping with the transition.

Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn have all left the game recently and Glenn McGrath played his last game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Ponting said Gilchrist had not outlined his plans, though he has often talked about being tired by the demands of playing both Tests and one-dayers.

''I am not sure what Gilly is going to do,'' Ponting said.

''There was some talk a couple of years ago, even a year ago, that this World Cup was going to be his last one-day tournament, but I haven't heard anything about that here. I would think he would be pretty keen to play on in Tests,'' the Aussie skipper added.

Ponting said if the two felt their workload was too much, they could cut back on their ODI commitments. ''Matty, just having got back into the one-day side, I don't think he is willing to give it away yet, especially the way he is playing. He is probably in the form of his life, so I wouldn't imagine his one-day career is going to finish too soon.

''I would like to see both of those guys push on for another couple of years. They are not only great mates of mine but great team-mates,'' the World Cup winning captain said.

UNI