Ponting walks after brilliant run out

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said that the incident which led to him damaging a dressing room television set has been blown out of proportion.

Ponting reacted angrily after he was run out for 28 against Zimbabwe.

He was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council, which acted after an Indian Cricket Board report.

"Just to clarify, the television wasn't hit by me with my bat at all, it was hit by my box that I'd thrown down at the end of cricket kit," he said.

"I'm not sure where a lot of those stories have come from but I have accepted what the ICC have come up with as far as a reprimand is concerned from the incident.

"There was some small damage to the TV set and I went and reported it to the team manager straight away. They actually replaced the television set there and then.

"Some of the stories I have been hearing the last couple of days have been a little bit different to what the list of events actually were."

The 36-year-old Tasmanian was run out at the non-striker's end by a direct throw from Chris Mpofu as he attempted a second run.

On his way back to the pavilion, he appeared to talk angrily to himself after being out relatively cheaply in his first competitive innings since the fourth Ashes Test against England in December.

Ponting, who is attempting to become the first skipper to win the World Cup three times in succession, accepted the Level 1 charge, which could mean he loses 50% of his match fee.

But he is keen to focus on on-field events ahead of Friday's game against New Zealand.

"Hopefully we can put this all behind us and start worrying about a big game of cricket. There's a limit I guess [to how much] you can let off steam in a dressing room. It is a pretty sacred sort of place in international cricket.

"But there's a line you can't overstep. I accept responsibility for that happening, albeit by total accident and with no malice involved whatsoever.

"What's happened has happened, I'd like to be able to take it back but I can't."

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