Tait's return impresses Ponting

Ricky Ponting has credited Shaun Tait with restoring some of Australia's spark in the one-day arena, despite their loss to England at Old Trafford. The tense finish handed England the series but Tait helped bowl Australia back into the match with 3 for 28 from his ten overs, and the challenge now is to push his injury-prone body to perform in two more 50-over encounters in the next six days.

Tait gave up first-class cricket so that he could drive himself as hard as possible in the shorter formats, and Twenty20 has been his staple over the past year. He hadn't played an ODI for nearly a year and a half when he took the field at Old Trafford, where he promptly delivered a searing, swinging 152kph yorker with his fourth ball that dislodged Craig Kieswetter's middle stump.

"It's really encouraging to have him back in the side and it's always exciting when you've got someone who can bowl like that," Ponting said after the match. "It tends to lift the rest of the group as well. It's no fluke that we had a bit more energy in the field today, someone like Tait creates that for you."

Ponting refused to make Tait bowl spells any longer than two overs, which allowed him to make virtually every delivery an effort ball. There were grunts to rival Maria Sharapova as he kept charging in, and when he sprayed a head-high full toss well wide of Andrew Strauss in his eighth over, it looked like completing ten overs might be beyond him.

But Tait regained his control and in his final over was still touching 150kph, and importantly was tailing the ball in with difficult late swing. He picked up Kevin Pietersen with a reflex return catch and had Michael Yardy caught behind towards the end of England's chase, and Ponting was confident that Tait could play a key role in Australia's one-day future, if he was used as a shock weapon.

"You've always got to be mindful of using blokes like that well, and knowing that he's come off such a long run of Twenty20 cricket only, with the IPL and then the T20 World Cup, that his conditioning for bowling longer spells is probably not where it needs to be," Ponting said. "But he's that sort of bowler anyway, where you're better off using him in a couple-of-over spells and hoping he makes an impact. I think he did that in almost every spell today.

"Having someone like that, who's got that firepower and that bit of unpredictability in your team, is always nice to have. I thought that with the exception of a couple of wides that he bowled today, everything else was very, very good. It was a welcome return for Shaun."

Although he did play 50-over cricket for South Australia during the home summer, Tait struggled for impact, so his zip and menace at Old Trafford was an especially pleasing sign for Ponting. The series is gone but if Australia can reincorporate one of their stars of the 2007 World Cup into the side over the next week, they will have achieved something of value as their title defence approaches.