'Sport was the making of me'

Gideon Haigh, writing for the Spectator, reviews Ricky Ponting's autobiography At the Close of Play, arguing that the book is merely a honest and humble account on the player's life, rather than a controversial bandwagon that it has been made out to be.

In describing big cricket, Ponting is then refreshingly candid about his vulnerabilities and anxieties. It was harder, he wants us to know, than it looked. The star team he joined was perhaps not quite so inclusive as Mowbray: 'The attitude of the team's leadership group in those days was basically: Work it out for yourself. Maybe that's not a bad thing with some young blokes, because it breeds a resilience that can be important when tough times occur later, but I think a few promising players in the 1990s would have appreciated more mentoring.'