Ricky Ponting says David Warner will emerge a better man Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is enjoying his cricket - and some good form - with Surrey. Picture: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Source: Getty Images FORMER Australian captain Ricky Ponting expects David Warner to become a better person after his exile from the Australian team. Ponting has revealed a chance meeting with Warner gave him an opportunity to chat with the troubled batsman who was axed from the side after a nightclub altercation with English player Joe Root. "He is happy the whole thing is behind him now," Ponting says. He wants to move on and start afresh. Talking to him, he has learnt some lessons as a result of it all. He has made it clear he is very remorseful for what happened and the way that it happened. He wants to make himself a better person as a result and I am sure he can do that. Ponting says his own indiscretion in 1999 - when he was punched at Kings Cross nightclub - became a major turning point in his life and changed him for the better. "It was about waking up every day and finding ways of becoming a better person," Ponting says. I knew I could become a better player because I was always going to give myself the best chance to do that. Ricky Ponting believes the Ashies series will be more of a contest than the pundits predict. Picture: Mark Dadswell/Getty In a wide-ranging interview, Ponting reveals his thoughts on the future of Australian cricket and his own form since his international retirement. Since your last Test, things have really looked up, haven't they? What do you attribute your great form to? That's probably the most disappointing thing that has happened to me since I retired from international cricket; that I have gone back to almost every competition I have played in and played really, really well. I think it is just being away from the spotlight, being away from the pressure a bit more, sort of being able to go back to state cricket in Tasmania and just relax and play the way I wanted to play. I think the thing is I found it increasingly difficult coping with the day-to-day pressures with Test cricket. I probably wasn't on top of my game, I wasn't playing the way I wanted to play. In each innings I was making it harder for myself. I was putting too much pressure on myself because I wanted to perform so badly. Even being around as long as I had been and playing as long as I had, I was still finding it difficult to play the way I wanted to play. I read recently where you said you'd "never say never" to an international comeback. One of your Surrey teammates, Jon Lewis, said Australia might have already been on the phone to you. Do you want to be called up to Australia's Ashes team? No I don't. I am more than happily retired. There was a bit made about it. The first interview I did in the UK, some of the things I said were turned around and used in the wrong way and I corrected everything the next day. Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain, will retire from all forms of cricket in October. Picture: Hamish Blair/Getty I am happily retired, there is no chance I will make an Ashes comeback. I am here fulfilling the couple of months' commitment I have with Surrey and really enjoying it. I will finish here and head off to the Caribbean after. On Australian Story recently, your peers spoke so highly of your captaincy abilities. The Australian team looks to be in a mess on and off the field. Considering your experience, how would you fix it? For one, it is not up to me to fix it at the moment. The thing we have to think about with the Australian team right now, we have got some young and inexperienced guys in there trying to find their feet. They are not having the success they would like. When you are young and are not winning as many games as you like, the pressure on you to perform as an individual is magnified. I know there has been a lot of negativity around about the Australian team recently, the results haven't quite been there. The last Test match I played, if we'd won that game (against South Africa in Perth), we would have been the No.1 Test team in the world and that was only a few months ago. I expect this Ashes series to be a fair bit closer and more of a contest than what a lot of other experts are tipping. A lot of the more experienced leaders around the group, such as myself, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin, who will be back in the Ashes squad as vice-captain, they just haven't been around for a while. Ricky Ponting, holding a replica Ashes urn, rejects suggestions of a comeback for the upcoming series in England. You have to understand when they are losing that experience around a team it is going to take a little while for the other guys to adapt and for the other guys to start taking up these leadership roles. It's a transitional phase, on the playing front and on the leadership front for the team as well. What did you make of the David Warner situation? What did I make of it? I actually saw David yesterday. He is happy the whole thing is behind him now. Did you have any advice for him? We didn't really go into it that deeply. I just caught up with the guys for a couple minutes at the game yesterday. As I said, he is pretty happy it is behind him now and he has a few more games of suspension to serve, then he wants to get back on and become the best person and player he can be. How did you turn it all around for yourself after the Kings Cross incident back in 1999? Retirement brings Ricky Ponting the longed-for chance to spend more time with daughters Matisse and Emmy and wife Rianna. Picture: Rob Griffith/AP For me, it was exactly what I just said, it was about waking up every day and finding ways of becoming a better person. I knew I could become a better player because I was always going to give myself the best chance to do that ... it was sort waking up and looking in the mirror and saying, "What can I do to make myself better today?" That was what it was about for me. Dave was in exactly the same position: We had what we love the most being taking away, and that is playing cricket for Australia. He has a couple of games' suspension. I had a couple of games' suspension as well in the early days. When you have something that means so much to you taken away, it is pretty easy to change yourself pretty quickly. What did you think about the "homework" saga in India? A shot to leg from Ricky Ponting, on his way to a century in last year's Sydney Test at the SCG. I can understand where they are going with that, where they are going with wanting everyone in the team to toe the line and do (what is) expected of them. The guys that didn't do it; there had to be some kind of punishment as a result of not doing what the team wanted them to do. I think the fact they were left out of a Test match was extreme. Now they decided to go that way, they are going to have to remain consistent with a lot of those types of things which is probably going to be a challenge in itself. Considering the way cricket has changed, do you the think the pride in the Baggy Green is the same as when you made your Test debut in 1995? I do I think the pride and the passion is still the same. The reason I think it is, it's because I have actually asked all these younger guys, all these guys that have been around that have come in the team over the last 10 years - I have actually asked them, I have made sure I have made it very clear to them how important it is to make sure and maintain the traditions and values of the Baggy Green and playing cricket for Australia. What are your aspirations beyond cricket after October? There has been talk of a commentary career. First and foremost, I'm looking forward to spending more time with Rianna and the girls. Yes, we've been talking to the TV networks and it's certainly something I'm interested in. I also enjoyed the coaching and mentoring role at Mumbai and want to do more of that into the future. Aside from that, I can't wait to play more golf, get along to as many North Melbourne footy games as possible and ramp up my work with the Ponting Foundation. It's going to be like a whole new beginning for me and my family. Ricky Ponting took time out from cricket duties to shoot a Swisse Vitamin D commercial.