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Full name Ricky Thomas Ponting
Born December 19, 1974, Launceston, Tasmania
Current age 33 years 255 days
Major teams Australia, ICC World XI, Kolkata Knight Riders, Somerset, Tasmania
Nickname Punter
Playing role Higher middle order batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height 1.78 m
Education Mowbray Primary; Brooks Senior High School, Launceston
Relations Uncle - GD Campbell

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

119

199

10099

257

58.37

17103

59.04

1124

134

ODIs

301

292

11113

164

43.24

13816

80.43

972

136

135

T20Is

315

98*

39.37

228

138.15

First-class

216

365

18738

257

59.86

222

List A

370

361

13412

164

42.84

167

Twenty20

374

98*

28.76

301

124.25

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

119

527

231

1/0

46.20

2.62

105.4

ODIs

301

150

104

1/12

34.66

4.16

50.0

T20Is

First-class

216

1422

757

2/10

54.07

3.19

101.5

List A

370

349

269

3/34

33.62

4.62

43.6

Twenty20

Career statistics

Test debut

Australia v Sri Lanka at Perth, Dec 8-11, 1995 scorecard

Last Test

West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Jun 12-16, 2008 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

Australia v South Africa at Wellington, Feb 15, 1995 scorecard

Last ODI

West Indies v Australia at St George's, Jun 29, 2008 scorecard

ODI statistics

T20I debut

New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard

Last T20I

West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Jun 20, 2008 scorecard

T20I statistics

First-class debut

1992/93

Last First-class

West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Jun 12-16, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

1992/93

Last List A

West Indies v Australia at St George's, Jun 29, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Somerset v Northamptonshire at Taunton, Jul 15, 2004 scorecard

Last Twenty20

West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Jun 20, 2008 scorecard

Acclaimed by Academy coach Rod Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ricky Ponting began with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and was given out unluckily for 96 on his Test debut. He was and remains the archetypal modern cricketer: he plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat and knows only to attack, and his breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. A gambler and a buccaneer, he is a natural at one-day cricket. He has had his setbacks, against probing seam attacks and high-class finger-spin, which, when out of form, he plays with hard hands. In the 1990s there were off-field indiscretions that led him once to admit publicly to an alcohol problem, but he overcame the issues and became part of the heartbeat of one of Australia's most successful teams. After the retirement of Ian Healy he took over as the man who led the singing of the victory song, passing it on when he assumed the captaincy.

With many lessons learned, Ponting's growing maturity was acknowledged by the ACB when he saw off competition from Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist to succeed Steve Waugh as Australia's one-day leader early in 2002. It was a seamless transition: Ponting led the successful 2003 World Cup campaign from the front, clouting 140 not out in the final, and acceded to the Test crown when Waugh finally stepped down early in 2004. A broken thumb suffered in the Champions Trophy in England forced him to watch Gilchrist lead Australia's first series victory in India for 35 years from the dressing room, although he returned for the final Test. Batting-wise his first year as captain was one to forget, but he began his second with 207 against Pakistan, joining Don Bradman and Greg Chappell as the only Australians to reach four double-centuries.

By the time the eagerly-awaited 2005 Ashes series got underway the cracks in an almost invincible Australian side were beginning to appear. A humiliating one-day loss to Bangladesh caused the first ripple of dissent against his leadership style, and it grew as the contest progressed. A heroic 156 helped save the Old Trafford Test, but on September 12, 2005, Ponting became the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series. The result hurt and the pain lingered throughout the next summer, but he regrouped and reglued to start an amazing streak of 16 wins in 17 Tests, culminating in the 5-0 demolition of England to regain the urn in the most emphatic way. Ponting was Man of the Series as Australia became the first team in 86 years to achieve an Ashes cleansweep and his 576 runs at 82.28 confirmed him as the game's modern master. The summer was tarnished slightly when England handed Australia their first tri-series finals loss for 14 years and he missed the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy defeat with a back injury. Each lowlight was quickly forgotten as he ensured a third consecutive World Cup win and his second as an undefeated captain.

Waugh believes his successor will hold the game's run-scoring record when he retires. The world's leading strokeplayer, he finished 2005 with 1544 runs and posted twin hundreds three times in five months, joining Sunil Gavaskar as the only other man to achieve the feat, and the double effort in his 100th Test at the SCG was magnificent. He followed up with another 1333 runs in 2006 and owns more centuries than anyone but Sachin Tendulkar. Frighteningly, he is far from finished.
Cricinfo staff August 2007