Ricky Ponting not playing county cricket this season

speaking in Melbourne on Friday, he added: Ive got to look at what my best preparation is, post the West Indies, and that will probably be to have a couple of months off.Its been a hard 12 months for me personally and around my cricket.With things not going as smoothly as I wanted at the start of the year, I had to train harder and work harder on my game and think more about my game than ever before.Its taken its toll a little bit, so I need to have a chance to refresh and recharge my batteries and get a solid pre-season under my belt before the Australian summer.Ricky Ponting captained Australia in 77 Tests and led them to 48 victories, a record for any nationSomerset director of cricket Brian Rose had indicated they would welcome the chance for Ponting to fill their vacant overseas player slot for the second half of the summer, but admitted they had made no contact with the three-time World Cup winner.If Ricky Ponting is a possibility then we are flattered that we have been connected with his name, Rose told BBC Somerset.But at the moment talks [with Ponting] have not been initiated and we are still looking at all options.In a run that included his resignation as captain, Ponting went 17 Tests without scoring a century, leading to calls for him to be dropped.