Melbourne: In an "encouraging" news ahead of the World Cup, Ricky Ponting is said to be recovering fast from his finger injury but team physio Alex Kountouris is cautious about taking Australian skipper back to the nets.
Ponting, who broke his finger during the miserable Ashes series, was assessed by Melbourne specialist Greg Hoy, who has advised Kountouris to step up his rehabilitation.
"We saw the specialist yesterday and he was reasonably happy with how Ricky is going. It`s an encouraging sign. We`ll see what happens in the next week or two," Kountouris said.
"We`ll progress to the next stage now. We`ll get his hand moving a bit and get it out of the splint, hopefully by the weekend. We expect Ricky to be right for the World Cup, but it`s when he is right to bat again.