Australian coach Mickey Arthur warned paceman Mitchell Johnson on Tuesday that he will have a fight on his hands to regain his place in the team with the emergence of young quick Pat Cummins.

Australia coach Mickey Arthur has thrown his support behind former captain Ricky Ponting's bid to contest a fifth Ashes cricket series against England next year.

Ed Cowan sprang to the defence of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting after both had scored half centuries here on Wednesday to put the Aussies in a commanding position in the third and final Test against the West Indies.

Half-centuries from Ed Cowan and Ricky Ponting left Australia in control at the end of the third day of the third and final Test against the West Indies here at Windsor Park on Wednesday.

Shane Shillingford celebrated becoming the first Dominican to play Test cricket in his home country in style on Monday as the West Indies paceman took four Australian wickets on the opening day of the third and final Test at Windsor Park on Monday.

Australia's Ricky Ponting recently shrugged off pressure on him to quit Test cricket. He backed his confidence on Day 1 of the 3rd Test against West Indies by surpassing Rahul Dravid as the second highest run-getter in the longest format of the sport, with 13289 runs.

Michael Clarke, Australia's captain, has all but guaranteed Ricky Ponting his place in the team's next Test assignment, at home against South Africa in November.

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said on Sunday he has no intention of calling time on his Test career and was looking forward to taking on bitter rivals South Africa later this year.

Legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding feels that Australia lacks the fire-power to reclaim the Ashes from Andrew Strauss's Englishmen.

Having humbled him in 2009, Kemar Roach has said he will not be easing up on Ricky Ponting as their return duel becomes increasingly likely to have a say in the closing chapters of the former Australia captain's international career.