> Ponting furious at Windies, wants ICC to take action !

Melbourne: Australian captain Ricky Ponting wants the International Cricket Council to take action against the West Indies cricketers for giving a miss to the ICC Awards' function hours before their ICC Champions Trophy final.

Ponting, who was visibly disappointed at the Caribbeans' trick, said Brian Lara's men deliberately stayed away from the show held in Mumbai because they were preparing and wanted to get extra rest before the D-day.

"Obviously, it's all just to do with their preparation and what they feel is their best preparation to be right for the game," said Ponting.

"That's what they decided to do but it'll definitely be looked at by the ICC. There'll be some sort of breach there I would imagine, but that's for them to decide," he was quoted as saying by the Australian media.

Ponting's team was not too keen to attend the function so close to the final, especially when it needed around an hour-long drive to reach the venue.

"We all had to go. No choice. No option. The agreement that we signed said we had to attend one official function through the course of the month and that function was last night. We all got there and we did what was required of us, and others didn't," he said.

However, the West Indies blamed their absence on the baggage problems following their hour-long flight although they had sent coach Bennett King to the black-tie function.

"We travelled from Jaipur and did not get our luggage until Friday night," said team spokesman Imran Khan.

"We couldn't attend without our clothes. We also had to change hotels after getting to our first hotel. It did give the boys an opportunity to rest up. But that was not the reason for not going," he said. PTI