Cricket: Clarke picks Ponting as key to success

Australian cricketer Michael Clarke. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Michael Clarke is confident veteran Ricky Ponting is ready to produce some of his best form for Australia over the next five weeks.

Australia are determined to win the three-match one-day series and subsequent test series against hosts South Africa, and captain Clarke believes Ponting is a key.

"I think he's just on the brink of having one of the best series of his career," said Clarke.

"I've seen him bat in Sri Lanka [90 not out in second ODI], he looked really good and he made some runs for Tasmania against WA [33, 87] the other day.

"I watched him bat in the nets [at Centurion this week] and I think this could be his series.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he gets man of the series in the one-dayers and is a leading run scorer in the test series."

Ponting's future place has been heavily scrutinised since he relinquished the captaincy to Clarke after the World Cup earlier this year.

During last month's tour to Sri Lanka, Ponting returned home for the birth of his second child and arrived back to find himself replaced at No 3 batsman by Shaun Marsh, dropping him to No 4.

There remains pressure on Ponting to make runs and justify his place with young batsmen like Usman Khawaja and David Warner knocking on the door for an opportunity.

- AAP