While many are questioning Ricky Ponting’s future, Australian captain Michael Clarke says he can see it.

“I see him scoring a triple-hundred in Perth in the first innings, that is how I see it, helping us win the third Test,” Clarke told reporters on Monday.

Ponting, with just 20 runs in three innings in the initial two Tests against the Proteas, conceded during the drawn second Test in Adelaide he needed runs or faced the axe.

But Clarke called for calm heads about the future of Australia’s greatest Test run-scorer.

“The one thing we need to keep in mind was he was the leading run-scorer in Shield cricket leading up to the start of this (Test) summer, so he is batting well,” Clarke said.

“We can all get out early in our innings, every single one of us – the start of your innings is the toughest time to bat, especially when you’re facing the best attack in the world.

“Once he gets in I have no doubt at all he will go on and make a big score, he knows how to make big hundreds.

“He is still as good a player under pressure as anyone in that team.”