Ponting leaves team to visit ill relative

Australia captain Ricky Ponting was absent when the team assembled in Darwin on Monday ahead of the first Test with Sri Lanka, after flying home to visit a sick relative.

Cricket Australia released a statement saying Ponting had returned to Tasmania because of a family illness but provided no other details.

Australia are due to start the first of their two Tests against Sri Lanka on Thursday and a spokesman told reporters in Darwin that it was not known when Ponting would join the squad.

"He could be on a plane tomorrow or he might not be here at all," the spokesman said.

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Meanwhile, Australia leg-spinner Stuart MacGill said that he was shocked to be included in the squad after refusing to tour Zimbabwe in April on moral grounds.

MacGill thought he would never play for Australia but always believed he had made the right decision in boycotting the Zimbabwe trip.

"I'd be lying if I said I never thought about that, because I think that was one of the considerations that I had to make," he said.

"But having weighed that up, I felt that I was still comfortable with my decision and from there I never thought about it again."

He was initially overlooked for the squad to play Sri Lanka when the selectors opted for Shane Warne as the sole spin bowler.

However, MacGill, who is playing county cricket in England, got a reprieve last week when injured fast bowler Brad Williams pulled out.

The second Test against Sri Lanka in Cairns begins on July 9.