Full name
Ricky Thomas Ponting
Born
December 19, 1974, Launceston, Tasmania
Current age 46 years 36 days
Major teams Australia, Antigua Hawksbills, ICC World XI, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Somerset, Surrey, Tasmania
Nickname Punter
Playing role Top-order batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height
1.78 m
Education Mowbray Primary; Brooks Senior High School, Launceston
Relation
Uncle - GD Campbell
Test debut |
Australia v Sri Lanka at Perth, Dec 8-11, 1995 scorecard |
Last Test |
Australia v South Africa at Perth, Nov 30-Dec 3, 2012 scorecard |
Test statistics |
|
ODI debut |
Australia v South Africa at Wellington, Feb 15, 1995 scorecard |
Last ODI |
Australia v India at Brisbane, Feb 19, 2012 scorecard |
ODI statistics |
|
T20I debut |
New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard |
Last T20I |
Australia v Sri Lanka at Nottingham, Jun 8, 2009 scorecard |
T20I statistics |
|
First-class debut |
1992/93 |
Last First-class |
Surrey v Nottinghamshire at The Oval, Jul 8-11, 2013 scorecard |
List A debut |
1992/93 |
Last List A |
Surrey v Lancashire at Guildford, Jun 9, 2013 scorecard |
T20s debut |
Somerset v Northamptonshire at Taunton, Jul 15, 2004 scorecard |
Last T20s |
Antigua Hawksbills v Guyana Amazon Warriors at North Sound, Aug 17, 2013 scorecard |
Ricky Ponting, the most uncompromising player of his generation, grew into Australia's most successful run-maker and only sits below Bradman in the country's overall ratings. It takes an extremely critical eye to diminish his run-scoring achievements, which seem to collect new records in every series. Like spotting a celebrity, it's necessary to look twice when analysing Ponting, first as the archetypal modern batsman, then as the country's 42nd Test captain. There is no doubt about his greatness after taking guard, but his leadership has been under scrutiny for much of his reign. While his blade has sparkled, his stewardship is pock-marked by three Ashes defeats - two in England and one at home - and stumbles to South Africa and India.
Those results didn't stop him from becoming the most successful captain in Test history after passing Steve Waugh's 41 wins in the 2009-10 Boxing Day Test. In the same match he overtook Shane Warne's 92 victories as the most by an individual, and he led Australia to 26 consecutive undefeated (completed) World Cup games. He stepped down from the captaincy when that run ended, in the 2011 World Cup. For the first three years of his reign he was in charge of a superstar unit and did not have to decide much tactically, but once that group headed for retirement he had to change from a manager to moulder.
As a batsman the only debate is where to rank him in the high reaches of the game's greatest run-makers. Acclaimed by Academy coach Rod Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ponting began with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and was given out unluckily for 96 on his Test debut. There were some teething problems, including a public admission of an alcohol problem, but the longer he went on the more he matured, building up records and runs.
He plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat - the cover drive and the pull are particularly productive methods - and knows only to attack. His breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. Only Sachin Tendulkar has more centuries in Tests and ODIs combined than Ponting, who is a natural in the game's traditional forms, but resistant to the perks of Twenty20, from which he retired from in 2009. There have been setbacks against probing seam attacks, high-class finger-spin and, latterly, short balls, which he insists are meant to be pulled or hooked.
After a fairly prolonged patchy run of form, Ponting announced that the Perth Test against South Africa in November-December 2012 would be his last international match.
-
February 15, 1995
-
Makes ODI debut at the age of 20 and scores 1 against South Africa
in Wellington.
-
December 10, 1995
-
Makes Test debut against Sri Lanka
at the WACA and is unlucky to be given out lbw on 96.
-
July 24, 1997
-
Returns to the Test team with a bang at Headingley, batting at No. 6 and scoring
127, his maiden century. With Matthew Elliott he lifts Australia from 4 for 50 to 9 declared for 501.
-
February-March 2003
-
Leads Australia's successful World Cup campaign in South Africa, scoring
140 not out in the final.
-
December 26-30, 2003
-
Joins Bradman as the second player to score three double-centuries in a calendar year with
257 against India at the MCG. He reached 242 in the previous match and 206 against West Indies in April, helping him to 1503 runs at 100.2 for 2003. His performances would win him the 2004 Allan Border Medal.
-
January 2005
-
Scores 207 against Pakistan
in Sydney to become only the third Australian, along with Don Bradman and Greg Chappell, to score four or more double-centuries in Tests.
-
June 2005
-
Suffers humiliating defeat in an ODI against Bangladesh
in Cardiff. It's the start of a torrid summer in England.
-
July-September 2005
-
A heroic 156 saves the
Old Trafford Test but, on September 12, Ponting becomes the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series.
-
January 2-6, 2006
-
Ponting scores hundreds in each innings of his
100th Test, against South Africa at the SCG.
-
March 24-28, 2006
-
Scores two more hundreds in the
Durban Test, it's the third time Ponting's scored hundreds in each innings of a Test. Sunil Gavaskar is the only other batsman to achieve this feat.
-
January 2008
-
Ponting ends a 13-month century-less run with 140 against India
in Adelaide, at the end of a controversial series.
-
May 2008
-
Scores 35th Test century, against West Indies
in Jamaica, to pass Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara's tallies. Only Sachin Tendulkar is ahead of him.
-
October 2008
-
After averaging 12.28 in 14 innings, Ponting finally scores a century in India - a 123
in Bangalore.
-
July 2009
-
Passes Allan Border's tally of 11,174 during the
Edgbaston Test to become Australia's highest run-scorer.
-
January 2010
-
Scores fifth double-century, against Pakistan
in Hobart, and narrowly misses scoring a double-century and a century in the same Test.
-
March-July 2010
-
Disappointing tours of New Zealand and England follow, where Ponting manages just one half-century in seven innings. Australia win the New Zealand Test series, but slip-up against Pakistan as the series is drawn 1-1.
-
March 19, 2011
-
Ponting's 26-match unbeaten streak as captain in World Cups is brought to an end as Pakistan win by four wickets
in Colombo.
-
March 24, 2011
-
India prevail in an exciting
quarter-final in Ahmedabad, knocking out Australia but Ponting overcomes a poor run and criticism about captaincy to score a determined century.
-
March 29, 2011
-
Amid increasing pressure, Ponting
steps down as Australia's Test and ODI captain but makes himself available for selection with an intention to play on.
-
September 2, 2011
-
Australia's 125-run victory
in Galle was Ponting's 100th Test win. He was the first cricketer to achieve that staggering landmark. Shane Warne is second with 92.
-
January 4, 2012
-
After going two years, and 33 innings, without a Test hundred, Ponting finally ends that drought with a
knock of 134 against India in Sydney. It's his sixth Test hundred at the SCG.
-
January 24-28, 2012
-
Ponting finishes an outstanding series against India by scoring 221 and 60 not out
in Adelaide. That lifts his series aggregate to 544, his
third-best ever in a Test series.
-
February 21, 2012
-
After being dropped from the CB Series because of his poor form - 18 runs in five innings - Ponting concedes that his ODI career is over. It's been quite a career too - 13,704 runs at 42.03, with three World Cup titles, including two as captain.
-
November 29, 2012
-
During a poor home series against South Africa, Ponting announces on the eve of the third Test in Perth that it will be his last. His decision to
retire from international cricket came after he scored only 20 runs in three innings in the first two Tests.
-
(Dec 28, 2020)
-
(Dec 15, 2020)
-
(Dec 8, 2020)
-
(Nov 24, 2020)
-
(Nov 21, 2020)
Nov 9, 2020
Ricky Ponting makes a point to Shikhar Dhawan
© Delhi Capitals
Nov 9, 2020
Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting have a chat during training
© Delhi Capitals
Nov 8, 2020
Contrasting emotions: R Ashwin, Mohammad Kaif, and Ricky Ponting watch the Delhi Capitals batsmen in action
© BCCI
|
|
ICC Player of the Year - 2006,2007
ICC Test Player of the Year - 2003, 2004, 2006
One-Day International Player of the Year - 2002
Allan Border Medal - 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009
Wisden Cricketer of the Year - 2006
Cricinfo Player of the Decade - 2000-09