With a three-test series against Sri Lanka starting next week, Australia have no time to dwell on what might have been after getting close to beating the best side in the world before being blown away at the end of a hard-fought series. They will, of course, be without Ricky Ponting for the first time in 17 years after the former captain bowed out following his 168th test, which ended with a 309-run defeat and the loss of the series to South Africa in Perth. “I just hope I’ve left the team in a better place than it was when I started,” Ponting, struggling to contain his emotions, said at the conclusion of his final news conference as an international cricketer on Monday. “I think every player that comes into international sport wants to say that they can walk away with the team being in a better place than it was, hopefully my impact and input on Australian cricket has left something behind.”