RICKY Thomas Ponting, Australia’s One-day International captain, is one of cricket’s most exciting players. Among the finest cricketers that Tasmania has ever produced, he is a precociously gifted batsman who has powerfully showcased two qualities which have remained with him ever since — a dislike for slow scoring and an ability to play virtually every shot in the book.
He knows only to attack with the full flourish of his bat. He bowls sharp medium-pace and occasional off-breaks, and his breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself.
Ponting made his first-class debut at 17 and his first Test appearance when he was only 20. In each of those matches, his batting performance sounded alarm bells for bowlers around the world. He made 56 on first-class debut against South Australia and then compiled 96 in his first Test appearance against Sri Lanka in Perth in 1995/96.
For some years, even before his first selection for Australia, Ricky Ponting had been acclaimed as a batsman of extraordinary potential. With 12 top-class centuries before his 21st birthday, Ponting’s authoritative stroke-play had forced all to take notice. In fact, he set such a high standard that when he didn’t make a century on his international debut against Sri Lanka in Perth, the legendary Rodney Marsh, who is also his mentor, was disappointed.
‘I fully expected him to get a hundred in that first Test’, said Marsh. ‘He’s that sort of a kid. Without doubt he’s the best young batsman who has come through the Academy in my years there. He’s a once-in-a-generation player.’
The oldest of three children, Ponting was born in a cricketing family. His father, Graeme, was a long time Launceston club cricketer, while mother, Lorraine, is sister of former Test player Greg Campbell. Ponting first played senior club cricket with the Mowbrey Club as a 15-year old boy. His brilliant batting skills had been verdant at a young age, when as an 11-year-old he made four unbeaten centuries in five days in an under-13s week at Brooks Senior High School. Finally, in 1991-92, while still 16, was lifted into Tasmania’s state squad.
A year later when he was named in Tasmania’s inaugural eleven for the opening game of the 1992-93 season, he was the island State’s youngest ever first-class cricketer.
Coming back to his Test career, Ponting began at the number six position. Gradually though, his success with the bat helped him assume the number three position. This shift was the result of his personal successes with the bat, which were also at heart of many memorable Australian victories. Widely identified as one of the world’s most devastating exponents of the hook, the pull and the square cut, his capacity to upset the rhythm of all manner of bowling has been crucial in helping Australia establish itself as international cricket’s most formidable team over the last half-decade.
Ponting’s career stalled briefly following his involvement in two infamous off field incidents — the first at a nightclub in Calcutta in 1998 and the other at a bar in Sydney in early 1999. He also endured a period on the sidelines after seriously injuring his ankle following a collision with a boundary hoarding at the SCG in February 2000.
However, since he has commanded a permanent place in the Australian team. He is tipped as his country’s next Test captain. He was deservedly given the role in 2002 having become an integral part of Australia’s success in the shorter game. The first Tasmanian to assume the Australian captaincy, Ponting leads by example as can be seen from his first series as skipper when he finished as his country’s leading run scorer in South Africa. He plays his shots all around the wicket and he has scored One-day centuries against all major cricketing nations. In 1999 he became the first Australian to score 1,000 one-day runs in successive years to go with his record of being the youngest Aussie to score a One-day ton at the age of 21.
His unbeaten 140 that set up his side’s victory against India in the World Cup final had been the best cricketing moment of his life. Australia’s mammoth total was their highest-ever limited-overs score. The major chunk of that total, came in the form of Ponting’s 13th ODI hundred, that including eight sixes. Together with Damien Martyn (88 not out), he shared an unbroken stand of 234 to propel Australia to a mammoth 359 for two and a win by 125 runs. ‘It is my most satisfying innings’ Ponting later told the media.
The win was not only Australia’s second World Cup in a row and a record third in total, following on from 1987 and 1999, but it also extended the side’s record winning streak to 17 matches.
RICKY Thomas Ponting, Australia’s One-day International captain, is one of cricket’s most exciting players. Among the finest cricketers that Tasmania has ever produced, he is a precociously gifted batsman who has powerfully showcased two qualities which have remained with him ever since — a dislike for slow scoring and an ability to play virtually every shot in the book.
