Teammates hoping Ponting will be fit for Boxing Day Test

As Ricky Ponting batted without any trouble in the nets on Thursday, his teammates are hoping that their captain would be ready to lead the team in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.

Ponting batted for about half an hour in today's practice session, starting with throwdowns before he went into the change room to have his injured elbow assessed by physiotherapist Alex Kountouris.

He returned and spent 25 minutes facing Shane Watson and a group of young fast bowlers and spinners without any problem.

Michael Clarke, who would step in as captain if Ponting was unavailable, is hoping that Ponting will be fit in time.

"He'll have to see how he pulls up tomorrow but we're all pretty confident. It looked like he hit the ball quite well, he's obviously in very good form and fingers crossed he pulls up all right tomorrow," Clarke said.

"All the boys have been very confident throughout the whole week that Ricky would pull up pretty good for this game. It was good to see him have a good bat today and we'll wait and see how he pulls up tomorrow to confirm that.

"He's a very tough bloke and cricketer and you'd probably have to cut his arm off for him to miss the Boxing Day Test match," he was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

Ponting had suffered the injury in the third Test against the West Indies in Perth, where he was struck by a delivery from Kemar Roach, which caused tendon damage.