Ponting looks forward to NatWest Challenge

Geraint Jones: England's star of the final © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting has said that the result of the NatWest Series final at Lord's has whetted his side's appetite for the three-match NatWest Challenge one-day series, which starts on July 7. England fought back magnificently to force a tie on Saturday after being reduced to 33 for 5 while chasing 197, and Ponting claimed that his team was now eager to win back the upper hand over the next week.

"With there being no result in this series, it will make us even keener to perform better in the next one," he said. "It's probably going to be good for the next series that this one has finished the way it has. We've got three games against England without Bangladesh and we're looking forward to them."

Looking back at Saturday's game, Ponting reckoned that a total of 196 should have been enough on a pitch where the ball bounced and seamed all day. "I felt it was a game we should have won. It was a very difficult wicket to bat on and close to 200 was a good score. I don't think too much went wrong. We beat the bat I don't know how many times early on when Jones and Collingwood were first in there but I thought their partnership was very good.

"To have a tie in the final is a pretty fair reflection of the series. I'm disappointed we didn't win but that's one of the best games of one-day cricket you'll ever see."

Michael Vaughan, meanwhile, was all praise for the sixth-wicket pair of Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones, who put together 116 and brought England back into the game when all seemed lost. "Geraint played beautifully and Colly really hung in there. It just gave us a chance of getting close to their target. That was the pleasing thing, that we showed a lot of character when we looked like we were down and out."

For Jones, it was a return to form after a lean run with the bat - his four previous innings in the tournament had only fetched him 27 runs. "I needed some time in the middle, it was nice to spend a bit of time out there and get some runs," he said after the match. "I knew I had to hang in there and be as patient as I could and get as close to the end with Colly as I could. That was the mindset there. It was quite an important innings in the situation of the game. We were in trouble early on but Paul and I had a great partnership there to get the team close. I'm more happy with that than anything personal." With five catches to go with his 71 - the highest score of the match - Jones was the obvious choice for the Man-of-the-Match award.