BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

AUSTRALIA'S captain, Ricky Ponting, has given Caribbean pitches a passing grade, but said the training facilities were still not up to scratch.

"The match conditions we've had, I think have been fantastic. I think we were lucky to start where we did. (In) St. Kitts and Antigua we got some very good batting wickets there and as the tournament has gone on, I can't think of anywhere we've had a bad wicket in a game," Ponting said.

"They all have been slightly different but they've all been very even and provided some great cricket so that's all we can ask."

During the just concluded Cricket World Cup, Australia played their warm-up matches at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex in St. Vincent and the Grenadines before moving to St. Kitts and Nevis for first-round matches at Warner Park.

Slightly disappointed

The world champions then contested their Super Eight, second-phase matches at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua, Kensington Oval in Barbados and the National Stadium in Grenada.Ponting said, however, they were slightly disappointed with the training facilities.

"There's probably been a little bit left to be desired for some of the training facilities around the Caribbean, but that's always been the case when you play cricket here," Ponting noted.

"A lot of the training facilities aren't what you are used to in Australia but that happens in a lot of places around the world. As far as actual game venues go, I think that match wickets we had have been excellent."

Australia beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method in the final at Kensington Oval to win their third successive World Cup, last Saturday.

Ponting said despite the issues with the tournament which was staged in the Caribbean for the first time, the campaign had proved successful for his side.

"I always enjoy playing cricket here in the Caribbean, there's no doubt about that," Ponting said.

"I said that at the start of this event, I felt that if some of the logistics worked out well, I thought this would be one of the great periods of our cricketing careers. I think the way we've played we've certainly achieved that."