Former skipper Ricky Ponting has endorsed Matthew Wade as the next man in to Australia's struggling Test batting line-up, while also lamenting a lack of opportunities for players to push their selection cases during the lengthy KFC BBL period.

Australia were skittled for 151 on day three of the third Domain Test in Melbourne on Friday, and while their bowlers, led by Pat Cummins, again responded valiantly with the ball, the hosts' batting failures again proved costly, ensuring the topic of personnel changes returned to the fore.

Ponting suggested it was difficult to see any changes for the final Test of the series, beginning on January 3 in Sydney, for a couple of reasons.

"I don't think they'll change for next week," Ponting told cricket.com.au. "One, because there's just not too many (batsmen) that can come in. And it's hard as well now with the Big Bash having started that no-one's played any Sheffield Shield cricket over the last few weeks to try to put up a case to get into the side.

"So that's where I think it's very difficult in Australia … some of our Shield players might get on a bit of a run towards the back-end (approaching Christmas), and then Big Bash starts and they're put on ice for another seven or eight weeks, and then they've got to get back into Sheffield Shield mode again.

Given the squad for the final Test against India has already been announced, any batsman selected would have to leapfrog the dumped Peter Handscomb as well as the incumbents. But with a two-Test series against Sri Lanka also fast approaching, Ponting believes Wade's form should place him at the front of the queue should the national selection panel be looking at top-six alternatives. To date this summer, the 31-year-old is the top run-scorer in the JLT Sheffield Shield, averaging 63.44, and has continued his fine form in the BBL, hammering 52 and 85 in his past two outings while opening the batting.

"For (those next in line for) a Test batting spot, I said Matthew Wade a few weeks ago," Ponting said. "He's the form player in the Sheffield Shield, no doubt about that – 571 runs I think he's made so far.

"We've seen already in the Big Bash as well that he's in really good touch, and he probably deserves a chance over anybody else right now because he's simply put the numbers on the board.

"And that's one of the big things I know Justin Langer and the selectors are talking about – if you're scoring runs, then you're a great chance of getting picked. So you can't fault what Matthew Wade's done so far this season."

A return to the Test side would represent quite a comeback for Wade, after he was dumped from the side ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes, bringing an abrupt halt to his 22-match stint in Baggy Green.

"I don't think I'll probably play Test cricket again, not as a wicketkeeper-batter anyway," Wade told cricket.com.au in September. "I want to be as good a batter as I can be. I'd like to be able to not keep and play as a batter in the last few years of my career. That's where I'd like to get to."

The Tasmanian could be aided by Australia's Test batting woes, which have been underlined by some alarming statistics in recent days, including the return of just one century (by Usman Khawaja) from 17 team innings since the 2018 New Year's Test in Sydney.

In Melbourne on Friday, the frailties were again exposed by a high-class Indian attack that Ponting felt were operating at a level many of Australia's batsmen wouldn't have had to deal with previously.

"It's hard to say much positive about (the batting performance), really," Ponting added. "I think there'll be a few guys that wouldn't be overly happy with the shots that they played.

"But some of the things we saw today are just signs of batsmen that are under pressure.

"They know it's a very good Indian attack that they're facing, and some of the guys haven't been confronted with good quality bowling like that probably before in their careers.

"So at 346 behind now, it's going to take a bit of a miracle to see anything other than an Indian win coming out of this Test match."