Australia may take "Ponting TV" on tour

By Simon Evans

KINGSTON (Reuters) - Australia may bring their hi-tech giant screen coaching aid, dubbed 'Ponting TV', on tour with them in the near future.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting used the screen, which allows batsmen to see their shots in net practice instantly without leaving the crease, during a training camp in Brisbane ahead of the current tour of the Caribbean.

Ponting struck a superb 158 on the first day of the test -- ending a run of poor form in the shorter versions of the game -- and said the technology could become a regular part of the team's training routine.'

"That might be something that we would maybe take around the world with us," he told reporters.

"The guys can just look over to the other net to see how they are doing, I think it is very beneficial. There is (already) a lot of technology involved our preparation.

"Whether it helped me here or not is another matter but it was the first time I used that technology.

"I've never really been one to scrutinise my own technique but to be there and play a delivery and be able to watch everything you do -- movements, backswing, head position and everything right in front of you -- was very useful."

In the Brisbane set-up, a plasma screen television was hauled into the practice net next to Ponting as he was video-taped facing deliveries from a bowling machine.