Ricky Ponting writes in his column in The Australian that he’s surprised by the reaction to his two-game rest.

I'm still not sure if the outcry was caused by the fact that I missed a couple of matches, or if it was because one of those games happened to fall on Australia Day. I also remain uncertain as to what was the main point of the criticism. The fact is I have missed a few games here and there over the last few years, and that hasn't caused anywhere near the same uproar as we've seen over the past week.

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