Ricky Ponting at fielding practice.
Ricky Ponting at fielding practice.

Sport

Ponting hopes to play 'pain-free' in Melbourne after injuring finger

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, broke his little finger during a catch attempt in the slips in the third Test in Perth.

Agencies

December 24, 2010

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, tested out his broken finger during fielding and throwing drills yesterday and said he was hopeful of playing "pain-free" in the fourth Ashes Test against England.

Ponting broke his little finger during a catch attempt in the slips in the third Test in Perth and did not take the field on the fourth and final day as Australia completed a 267-run victory to level the five-Test series at 1-1.

The 36-year-old captain appeared to have little difficulty during the fielding session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but elected not to take the crease in the nets.

Ponting has endured a poor series with the bat, with just 83 runs at an average of 16.60, 51 of those as Australia batted out the first Test for a draw in Brisbane.

"The finger is good actually," he said. "I joined in and did a fair bit of fielding at training this morning, I didn't have a bat today but I'll jump into the nets tomorrow."

"So I think, as I said after the Perth game, I've a really good chance of playing in this Test match and hopefully I'll be able to play pain-free, which will be nice."

Amid a form slump by Michael Clarke, the vice-captain, Brad Haddin, the Australian wicketkeeper, has his name broached as a possible successor to Ponting as captain. He said Ponting's participation at the Melbourne Test starting on Sunday was "very important".

"Obviously he's our leader and we get a lot of inspiration from him and he's been a great leader for Australia with this group of players," Haddin said. "You just have to see the turnaround we had from Adelaide to Perth to see the effect he has on the cricket team.

"At this stage the finger is recovering well. The signs are all good at this stage."

The uncapped Usman Khawaja, 24, a Pakistan-born top-order batsman, has been named as stand-by for the Boxing Day Test if Ponting fails to prove his fitness.

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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