Despite an objection from Ian Chappell, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said he would prefer to chase score if pitches did not appear to deteriorate too much during their World Cup matches in the Caribbean. Chappell had suggested it would be a mistake to bat second after Ponting had indicated change in plan with recent statistics showing the team had problems defending total owing to their depleted bowling attack. "You have to be certain that conditions won't deteriorate through a game and that one on Wednesday probably did," Ponting said after their first warm-up match. "With the 9.30am starts, if it looks like a really good, hard surface that's not going to deteriorate too much, then we might (chase)," he was quoted as saying by Herald Sun. Chappell was of the view that Aussies should solve their bowling problem and stick to their tested plan of batting first. "Ponting has said that he may decide to bat second a bit more often than he has done in the past. I think it's mistake, because he is going to be doing that to try to cover a bit of a weakness in the bowling. " But you can't hide a weakness. You have got to solve the problem. I think he would be better off sticking to the original plan, which is to bat first," Chappell said. |