Ricky Ponting signs for Surrey for two-month spell

London: Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has been signed by English county Surrey to play in the 2013-14 season. It will be Ponting's second stint playing domestic cricket in England following a brief time with Somerset in 2004.

"I thought my days of playing in England might have been over after I knew I wasn't going to be on the Ashes tour this year. I've probably got a few too many bad memories from the Oval because of Ashes series gone by (Australia lost the last two campaigns in England on this ground) so I hope I can walk away with some better ones this time," the 38-year-old told Surrey TV.

Ponting's stint with Surrey will coincide with the Ashes which starts at Trent Bridge on July 10 and he admitted that it would be a bit odd not to be a part of the iconic series. "It will be very strange to know that a few hours away there will be an Ashes Test going on and I won't be part of it. But I've had a chance to think about all that over the last three or four months and just to be in the country while a series like that is happening will be a lot of fun," said Ponting.

It will be the Australian's second stint playing county cricket in England following a brief time with Somerset in 2004.

Ponting played three county matches for Somerset in 2004 and scored 297 runs at an astonishing average of 99, with two centuries and one half-century.

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