<p>"Rest is really important for all the senior players during such a long and hectic schedule, with no break in our program until April next year. That means almost a year on the road for some of us," Ponting wrote in 'The Australian'.<br /><br />Ponting will sit out of two Twenty20 games and the start of the seven-match ODI series against England after the Ashes.<br /><br />"I'm grateful to Cricket Australia for giving me a couple of Twenty20 and one-day matches off after the Test series," he said.<br /><br />Australia is tied 1-1 with England in the Ashes after winning the fourth Test at Leeds inside three days. Ponting said the early finish came as a welcome break for players.<br /><br />"...it was great to give the guys a couple of days off. Ben Hilfenhaus jumped on a train and went to Paris, Marcus North visited his in-laws in Newcastle, Michael Clarke went off to London and I chilled out with my family for a couple of days in Leeds," Ponting revealed.<br /><br />Ponting lauded Cricket Australia for giving regular breaks to his teammates and said CA is the best board in the world when it comes to handling players.<br /><br />"Cricket Australia has been terrific in recent years at finding a game for me to have off here and there with the bigger series in mind," he said.</p>
<p>"Rest is really important for all the senior players during such a long and hectic schedule, with no break in our program until April next year. That means almost a year on the road for some of us," Ponting wrote in 'The Australian'.<br /><br />Ponting will sit out of two Twenty20 games and the start of the seven-match ODI series against England after the Ashes.<br /><br />"I'm grateful to Cricket Australia for giving me a couple of Twenty20 and one-day matches off after the Test series," he said.<br /><br />Australia is tied 1-1 with England in the Ashes after winning the fourth Test at Leeds inside three days. Ponting said the early finish came as a welcome break for players.<br /><br />"...it was great to give the guys a couple of days off. Ben Hilfenhaus jumped on a train and went to Paris, Marcus North visited his in-laws in Newcastle, Michael Clarke went off to London and I chilled out with my family for a couple of days in Leeds," Ponting revealed.<br /><br />Ponting lauded Cricket Australia for giving regular breaks to his teammates and said CA is the best board in the world when it comes to handling players.<br /><br />"Cricket Australia has been terrific in recent years at finding a game for me to have off here and there with the bigger series in mind," he said.</p>
