South Africa and Australia just bantering, Ponting says

Some consider it to be sledging, but Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting prefers to call comments between his team and South Africa ahead of the first Test as nothing more than "lighthearted banter."

International Cricket Council chief Malcolm Speed singled out the two teams on Monday over recent pre-series comments, and said players risk code of conduct offenses.

But Ponting said yesterday he saw nothing unusual in the player comments, which have come from South African skipper Graeme Smith and Shane Warne ahead of the three-match series.

"I'm pretty comfortable with what's happened so far in the press, which is all that we can go on," said Ponting, who is in Perth for Australia's first day of training at the WACA ahead of Friday's start of the Test.

"Banter is part of our game and so far the buildup to this Test series looks like it is going to be pretty intense. But it has just been some pretty lighthearted banter. Our on-field record speaks for itself over the last couple of years and we'll make sure when we go into the game on Friday that we're upholding the spirit of the game as best as we possibly can," he said.

South African batsman Jacques Kallis remains sidelined with an elbow injury, and Ponting said it would be a big loss for the visitors if he failed to play.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia said a planned announcement scheduled for yesterday for its 2006-2007 international schedule in Australia, including the Ashes, would be put off while last-minute adjustments are made.

Australian Associated Press said that the Champions Trophy in India in October and early November next year, along with the cricket World Cup in the West Indies in February-March 2007, means a five-match Ashes series will have to be squeezed into a six-week block from late November to the first week of January. Three Tests will likely be played before Christmas -- in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide -- while the fourth will be played starting Dec. 26 in Melbourne and on Jan. 2 in Sydney.