Ponting vows to heal his young guns for NZ series

The mood in the Australian dressing room has hit a low after the loss to South Africa, admits skipper Ricky Ponting but insists that he would talk his young side out of the gloom for the ODI series against New Zealand starting tomorrow.

"I think it's a mindset thing at the moment. Confidence in the group is down a little bit on our last couple of performances," Ponting was quoted as saying in Herald Sun.

"With the younger guys in and around the group and coming in for their first series and losing it the way we have it's important for me as a senior player, and some of the other guys, to really get to them in the next 24 hours and let them know that that series is gone now and we have to look forward to the New Zealand series," he added.

Assessing the Test and ODI series defeat against the Proteas, Ponting stressed on having a positive attitude as his side looks to rebuild itself.

"It's important we start off this series against New Zealand on a positive note. There is a lot of room for improvement with the cricket we've played in the last couple of games," he said.

With Australia seeking to regain their No 1 spot in the ODI series starting in Perth tomorrow, Ponting tipped pacer Shaun Tait as the key to wrecking the fragile Kiwi batting. Tait had demolished New Zealand in a Twenty20 match at the WACA Ground in 2007, scalping 2 for 22 in four overs and Ponting hoped for an encore from the right-arm pacer.

"He's got a good record against New Zealand and one Twenty20 game in particular he played against them last year was pretty entertaining so hopefully he can come back in and have an immediate impact for us," Ponting said.