Ricky Ponting

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Ricky Ponting Australia (Aus)

Batting style	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling type	Right-arm medium (RM)
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	105	261
Runs scored	8792	9411
Batting average	58.22	41.64
100s/50s	31/34	20/55
Top score	257	164
Balls bowled	527	150
Wickets	5	3
Bowling average	46.20	34.66
5 wickets in innings	-	-
10 wickets in match	-	N/A
Best bowling	1/0	1/12
Catches/stumpings	120/-	114/-
As of [[6 November]], 2006 Source: Cricinfo.com

Ricky Thomas Ponting (born December 19, 1974, in Launceston, Tasmania) is an Australian cricketer. He is currently the captain of the Australian One-Day and Test cricket teams. As of September 2006, he is the world's leading batsman in Test cricket according to the ICC rankings, and fourth in the rankings for One-day Internationals. He has made over 8,500 Test runs in Tests at an average of over 58 with 31 centuries. In one-day international matches, Ponting has made over 9,000 runs at an average of 42 with a strike rate of 79. His height is 5'10".

He is also the only cricketer to have won the Allan Border Medal for the most outstanding Australian cricketer of the past season, as voted by his peers, the media and umpires, twice. He is also the only cricketer to score over 1500 Test match runs in a calendar year twice.^[1]

On November 3, 2006, Ponting was named ICC Test Player of the Year and ICC Player of the Year. He was also named in both the World ODI and Test teams of the year.^[2]

1 Early career
2 ODI Captain
3 Test Captaincy
4 First Ashes tour as Captain
5 Ponting's cricketing strengths
6 Graphite bat controversy
7 Endorsements
8 Personal life
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Early career

Unlike many Australian cricketers, Ponting's talents were quickly rewarded with selection, playing for Tasmania at age 17, with his Test debut coming in the 1st Test against Sri Lanka in December 1995 just days before his 21st birthday in Perth after the axing of Greg Blewett from the No.6 batting position. Ponting batted in the No. 5 position in his debut as Steve Waugh was also injured. He was given out in a close lbw decision for 96 in his first Test innings. He also featured in the One-Day team, and attended the 1996 Cricket World Cup, where he batted in the No.3 position, and became the youngest batsman to score a World Cup century, when he achieved the feat in a match against the West Indies in the group phase.

With the retirement of fellow Tasmanian David Boon, Ponting was elevated to the No.3 position in the Test team for the series against the West Indies in 1996-97 in Australia. After two Test matches, he was replaced by Justin Langer. He was out of the team for six months before returning to the team against England at Leeds in July 1997 when he scored his first Test century, batting in his original position of No. 6. He stayed there until the 1998 tour to India, in which he made way to Darren Lehmann in one Test match, who was perceived by selection at the time to be a superior player of spin. He also attracted headlines for being ejected from a bar in Kolkata due to poor behaviour, and another incident in which he visibly exchanged heated words by Harbhajan Singh after being dismissed by the then 17-year old off-spinner in an ODI.

Ponting was again recalled to the Test team for the 1998-99 Ashes series against England in place of Lehmann, but after unconvincing performances in the first three Test matches, he was again dropped in favour of Lehmann for the last two Test matches. He was a permanent fixture in the one-day side throughout this period, aside from a brief suspension in early 1999 after he was involved in a pub altercation at Kings Cross, in which he sustained a black eye, which he sported to the press conference announcing his suspension.

He was again recalled to the Test team for the 1999 tour of the West Indies in place of Lehmann, where he batted at the No. 6 position up until 2001. Ponting was a part of the Australian team for the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Ponting's position was secure apart from a tour of India in early 2001, in which he scored 17 runs at an average of 3.4, being tormented and dismissed all five times by Harbhajan. Ponting had a good tour of England in 2001, in which he was promoted to the No 3. position when Justin Langer was dropped. He has batted there since.

In late 2003, Ponting scored his second double century, against India at the Adelaide Oval. He followed this with another double century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the following game. In doing so he became only the 2nd batsman (Sir Donald Bradman was the other) to hit three double-centuries in a calendar year.

[edit] ODI Captain

Although the Test team continued to perform well, sweeping South Africa 3-0 in the home series in 2001-02, the ODI team suffered a slump, failing to qualify for the finals of the triangular tournament, leading to the dropping of Steve Waugh from the one-day team in February 2002. Ponting was elevated to the captaincy, ahead of then vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. At the time of the announcement, this was considered rather surprising by many commentators. He revived the fortunes of the ODI team and led his team to a dominant performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup which was highlighted by the complete demolition of India in the final with a brilliant, coruscating 140-run innings, the highest ever in a World Cup final. The team was undefeated throughout the tournament.

On 12 March 2006, he scored 164 in only 105 balls in a one-day international against South Africa in Johannesburg as Australia made a record total of 4 for 434, only to be beaten by South Africa's 9 for 438. At the end of the match Ponting was jointly awarded Man of the Match with Herschelle Gibbs. Ponting declined the award saying that Gibbs deserved the award more than he did.

[edit] Test Captaincy

With Waugh's retirement at the beginning of 2004, he also assumed the Test captaincy and continued Australia's success in that form of the game, notably whitewashing Sri Lanka 3-0 in Sri Lanka, a rare achievement on the subcontinent.

He sustained an injury on the 2004 tour of India, leaving Gilchrist to lead Australia to their first series win in India for over thirty years. After a year-long drought without a century during his captaincy, he scored a double-century against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the 2005 New Year's Test match. This completed a successful summer season in which the Australian team won both all of their Test matches, two against New Zealand and three against Pakistan. His team then whitewashed New Zealand in New Zealand in the lead-up to the 2005 Ashes series.

In the 2005–06 season, he scored a century in both innings of a Test match three times, including becoming the first man to score a century in each innings of his 100th Test match. He is the only the second man (after Sunil Gavaskar) to score centuries in both innings of a Test match 3 times, and the first to do it in a single season.

So successful is his Australian team, that as of August 2006, he is already the eighth most successful captain of all time, in terms of Tests won, at 22 wins from 30 Tests.

[edit] First Ashes tour as Captain

In 2005 Ponting got his first major challenge as captain, when the Australian team toured England. After a comprehensive win at Lord's in the first Test (where Ponting had his cheek cut by a vicious bouncer from Stephen Harmison in the opening session), England fought back to win at Edgbaston and Australia were in danger of going 2-1 down at the next Test at Old Trafford. With “Australia needing to survive a whole day to achieve a draw, Ponting made a stylish and chanceless 156 - before being out just four overs before the end, but Australia still just held on. Ponting's 156 was the Australians' first Test century of the series, and a welcome return to form for Ponting, who had been dismissed in single figures three times in the series before this innings. At the next (Fourth) Test match at Trent Bridge Ponting was again dismissed for single figures in his first innings and Australia were forced to follow-on. In his second innings Ponting had scored 48 runs off 89 balls in two hours at the crease, but he was then run out by a brilliant throw by a young English substitute fielder Gary Pratt. The 'excessive' use of substitute fielders by England in the series had angered Ponting and he saw this dismissal as the final straw. He directed a tirade of abuse at the England balcony using abusive language for which he was fined 75% of his match fee by the ICC. After England won the match to take a 2-1 lead in the series Ponting returned to the subject of substitutes in an interview with Australian radio "I think it's an absolute disgrace the spirit of the game is being treated like that. It is within the rules; it's just not within the spirit of the game" he said. The England coach Duncan Fletcher later commented on this incident:

He [Ponting] completely blew his top. I did not actually think it at the time but, looking back now, that might be the moment when it became clear that England were going to regain the Ashes.

Commentators suggested that Ponting’s anger at Trent Bridge was a sign of his frustration at his team’s inability to match the overall play of a resurgent England team. English commentators commented unfavorably on Ponting’s captaincy compared with that of Michael Vaughan and said that Ponting was clearly frustrated by the fact that he might end up being the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1985 to fail to defend the Ashes successfully. Ponting also remarked that should Australia fail to retain the Ashes, he would not shoulder the blame entirely, citing the performance of his players. Many saw this as a sign of weakness, that he showed a fear of impending failure to his opponents. England proceeded to force a draw in the Fifth Test at the Oval, and regained the Ashes 2-1.

[edit] Ponting's cricketing strengths

Ricky Ponting's career performance graph as of 2006-04-24.

Like many Australian batsmen, Ricky Ponting is particularly strong against pace bowling, with the full array of back foot shots, including the pull, hook, and square cut. Early on, he was regarded as a near-compulsive hooker he has latterly moderated this tendency. But he is not particularly confident playing the spinners.^{[citation needed]} He has been less effective against India on their home pitches. In eight Test matches against India in India, Ponting's batting average is 12.28; considerably lower than his career average.

His batting average has steadily improved over time. From the beginning of his career until the end of 2001, he averaged 44.19 in 52 matches; in his next 50 matches ending in March 2006, he averaged 71.53.

Ponting occasionally bowls medium pace, and took the wicket of England Captain Michael Vaughan in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge in 2005. At previous times he had also experimented with off-spin. He is an outstanding fielder square of the wicket or at silly point, with brilliant reactions and hand-eye coordination. He also has an ability to hit the stumps frequently, and has featured in many run-outs.

In 2004, Ponting was named Leading Cricketer in the World by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. However, he had to wait until 2006 before he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

Following the Ashes defeat of 2005, Ponting began a run of form rarely seen in the history of the game. Between October 2005 and April 2006, he played 12 Tests against the ICC World XI, the West Indies, South Africa (all at home), South Africa again (away) and Bangladesh (away). He scored 1483 runs with eight centuries at an average of 78.05 during this time. This included the remarkable achievement of hitting two centuries in a Test on three occasions in the space of just five months, including in his 100th Test at Sydney in January 2006, where his unbeaten 143 in the second innings led Australia to a victory over South Africa. Ponting also made a match-winning century in the fourth innings of the first Test against Bangladesh in April 2006. His batting performance was one of main reasons his Australian side won 11 of those 12 Tests, with the 1st Test in Perth against the South Africans the only draw. This exceptional form streak resulted in his being ranked the number one batsmen in the LG ICC cricket ratings and obtaining a rating of 937 points, the sixth best such rating of all-time.

[edit] Graphite bat controversy

Ponting is one of the batsmen supplied with bats by the Australian company Kookaburra Sport. In 2006, the graphite-covered bat he was using was declared by the MCC to have contravened Law 6.1., which states that bats have to be made of wood, although they may be "covered with material for protection, strengthening or repair not likely to cause unacceptable damage to the ball". Kookaburra maintained that the carbon fibre covering on the back of the bat is sufficiently thin to be permissable under the law, but agreed to co-operate and supply Ponting and others with compliant bats.^[3]^[4]

[edit] Endorsements

He is seen in a television advertisement for Unilever's deodorant and anti-perspirant product, "Rexona".

Ponting has also appeared in promotional advertisements for National Food Limited's Pura Milk, Medibank Private, Victoria Bitter and KFC.

He was the face of Atari's Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2005 and will reprise his role for the 2007 version.

[edit] Personal life

With the now-large financial rewards of international cricket, Ponting is a full-time professional cricketer, although he is involved with Stride Sports, a sports management business which is well-known for managing some of the biggest names in the AFL - including Glenn Archer and Cameron Mooney. His one well-known off-field interest is betting on horse and greyhound races, revealed by his nickname, "Punter".

Ricky married his long-time girlfriend, law student Rianna Cantor, in June 2002. He has himself credited her as a reason for the maturity evident in his game in recent years^{[citation needed]}.

Ponting is a keen supporter - and number one ticket holder - of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.^[5]

Australian batsmen with a Test batting average above 50
Allan Border \| Donald Bradman \| Greg Chappell \| Matthew Hayden \| Ricky Ponting \| Jack Ryder \| Steve Waugh

Preceded by: Steve Waugh	Australian Test cricket captains 2003/4 - present	Succeeded by: current
Preceded by: Steve Waugh	Australian One-day International cricket captains 2001/2 - present	Succeeded by: current
Preceded by: first recipient	Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World 2004	Succeeded by: Shane Warne
Preceded by: Adam Gilchrist	Allan Border Medal winner 2004	Succeeded by: Michael Clarke
Preceded by: Michael Clarke	Allan Border Medal winner 2006	Succeeded by: current
Preceded by: Andrew Flintoff joint with Jacques Kallis	Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy 2006	Succeeded by: current holder

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Cricket Portal

	Australia squad - 2003 Cricket World Cup
1 Ponting \| 2 Gilchrist \| 3 Bevan \| 4 Bichel \| 5 Bracken \| 6 Gillespie \| 7 Harvey \| 8 Hauritz \| 9 Hayden \| 10 Hogg \| 11 Lee \| 12 Lehmann \| 13 Maher \| 14 Martyn \| 15 McGrath \| 16 Symonds \| 17 Warne \| 18 Watson \| Coach: Buchanan

Persondata
NAME	Ponting, Ricky Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Cricketer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 19, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH	Launceston, Tasmania
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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