FORMER Australian captain Ricky Ponting has back-tracked on a suggestion he could return to Test cricket as an emergency Ashes call-up by ruling himself out of the upcoming series against England.

The 38-year-old had told British tabloid the Daily Mail if he was needed at the last-minute "you wouldn't say no, would you, if that call came".



"I would never say never," he told the newspaper.



Read the full Daily Mail article here



But Ponting has since made clear his international career was definitely over.



"I did an interview with the Mail yesterday and probably didn't answer this question exactly the way I would have liked," he told Sky Sports.



"I'm a happily retired international cricketer. There'll be a squad of 17, 18 players and there'll be reserve batsmen on standby, ready to go if anyone in the starting XI loses a bit of form.



"I won't be playing Ashes cricket this time, there's no doubt about that."



Ponting, who retired from Test cricket in December, said he was pleased some people thought he was still good enough to play be argued it was time for the younger generation to make their mark.



Ponting is in England to play county cricket for London-based side Surrey.



In the Daily Mail interview, he said while he wouldn't be in the Australian changing room during the Ashes he'd be keeping a close eye on proceedings.



"If (captain) Michael Clarke wants to run anything by me he knows where I am," Ponting said.



"There's nothing official in place but I'll only be down the road."



The former captain said he would have loved another crack at arch-rivals England.



However, a poor series at home to South Africa convinced him he was no longer reaching the required standard.



"This was the series I was playing on for without a doubt," Ponting said.



"I felt Australia would have been a stronger side in this Ashes with both me and Mike Hussey in the side.



"But the bottom line is I just wasn't good enough any more to be a part of this team. I knew that."



The Australian team is currently in Wales at the start of their ICC Champions Trophy campaign.



The squad will spend the next week in Cardiff - with rain forecast for much of it - with practice matches scheduled against the West Indies on Saturday and India on Tuesday.



Originally published as Ponting rules out Ashes recall