Finger will keep Ponting out of the one-day series

Ricky Ponting is to have surgery on the fractured finger he suffered during the third Ashes Test in Perth.

Ponting suffered the injury when he parried a catch from second slip to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin to dismiss England's Jonathan Trott late on day three at the Waca.

Australia won that Test to square the series at 1-1 and Ponting then played in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne that England won easily to lead 2-1 and retain the Ashes.

Ponting then withdrew from the final Test because of the injury and Cricket Australia yesterday confirmed he was to have surgery on the little finger on his left hand.

Ponting hoped to play in the final Test in Sydney but Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said: "Ricky had further X-rays today on his fractured finger which have shown that the bone fragment has further displaced and will not heal without surgery. As such, Ricky will have surgery tomorrow.

"He is expected to miss the Commonwealth Bank one-day international series against England and recover for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup on the subcontinent."

With Michael Clarke assuming the captaincy in his absence the future looks uncertain for Ponting, who faces the prospect of becoming the only Australia captain to oversee three Ashes series defeats by England. He was also fined 40 per cent of his match fee after a row with umpire Aleem Dar during the fourth Test.

Ponting had a long confrontation with Dar after an appeal for caught behind against Kevin Pietersen was rejected, first by Dar and then by the TV umpire following a referral. The technology supported the decision but Ponting jabbed his finger towards Dar before continuing the discussion with square-leg umpire Tony Hill.