Australia's coach Mickey Arthur is in no doubt that Ponting has left a significant gap in the team. Ponting's relentless pursuit of fitness, success and consistency often left him as the last man on the field at training, long after younger and fresher legs had been exhausted. Arthur said Michael and David Hussey had filled some of the breach, while David Warner also acted as a source of energy, and runs.
Dare it be said that 17 days after the national selectors deemed it the right time for Ricky Ponting to move on the Australian one-day team is missing him? Perhaps not his batting, which had offered nothing in his final five innings, but certainly his dressing-room influence, energy, drive and focus.
The difficulties faced by the Australian team towards the end of a long and demanding summer - it is set to continue in the West Indies - go beyond the decision to jettison Ponting. But it is significant that the downturn has accompanied his absence. Watson, Clarke and the selectors are now aware of precisely how much was lost with Ponting's removal. It will be a major step for the team if they can conjure the right result without him in the third final.