The day after being honoured for the best 12 months of his cricketing career, Ricky Ponting will leave for one of his most important tours.

The Australian one-day captain and his squad will leave for Sri Lanka, where Ponting will also make his Test captaincy debut early next month after taking over that role from Steve Waugh.

After winning his first Allan Border Medal in Melbourne, Ponting said he would contact Waugh for some pointers but saw no great benefit in making his captaincy debut outside Australia.

When asked if there would be less pressure on him in Sri Lanka, he replied: "I wouldn't have thought so - it's a pretty hard place to play in and a pretty hard place to win (in), as we've seen over a long period of time.

"We didn't manage to win the series there the last time - that challenge lies ahead of us again."

Australia last played a Test series in Sri Lanka during the 1999-2000 summer, losing 1-0.

"There's going to be pressure on you whenever you captain your country, it just so happens I've been given the chance overseas," he said.

"There are fors and againsts for both - it would be nice to be able to do it here in Australia in front of your home crowd.

"Sure, a bit of extra pressure might come with that, but when you're away, I will have my wife and manager and a few other close friends there for that game.

"Otherwise, there won't be too many people supporting me in the crowd, I don't think....I don't think it matters too much."

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