Ponting made his first-class debut for Tasmania in November 1992, when just 17 years and 337 days old, becoming the youngest Tasmanian to play in a Sheffield Shield match. However, he had to wait until 1995 before making his One Day International (ODI) debut, during a quadrangular tournament in New Zealand in a match against South Africa. His Test debut followed shortly after, when selected for the first Test of the 1995 home series against Sri Lanka in Perth, in which he scored 96. He lost his place in the national team several times in the period before early-1999, due to lack of form and discipline, before becoming One Day International captain in early-2002 and Test captain in early-2004.
After being involved in over 140 Tests and 350 ODIs, Ponting is Australia's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket, with more than 25,000 international runs as of July 2010. He has scored 39 Test centuries—behind only Indian Sachin Tendulkar (49)—and third for most runs in ODIs behind Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Contents
* 1 1974–1995: Early life
o 1.1 Birth and personal life
o 1.2 Junior ranks
o 1.3 Early Australian domestic career
* 2 1995–1999: Early International career
o 2.1 Australian debut
o 2.2 1996 World Cup
o 2.3 1998 tours of the subcontinent and Ashes
* 3 1999–2002: The road back to the Australian side
o 3.1 First World Cup success (1999)
o 3.2 Defeat in India and 2001 Ashes
* 4 2002–2004: Appointment as One Day International captain
o 4.1 Appointment as One Day International captain
o 4.2 2002–03 Ashes victory and first World Cup success as captain
o 4.3 5000 Test runs
o 4.4 Most runs by an Australian in a calendar year (2003)
* 5 2004–2008: Appointment as Test captain
o 5.1 Australia lose Ashes series for the first time since 1987
o 5.2 Twin centuries in 100th Test
o 5.3 Australia's first Champions Trophy victory
o 5.4 Ashes regained and 10,000 ODI runs at 2007 World Cup
o 5.5 Sydney Test controversy
o 5.6 Third Australian to score 10,000 Test runs
* 6 2008–2010: Decline in form
o 6.1 Mixed team performances
o 6.2 Second Ashes series loss as captain
o 6.3 Troubles against the short ball and Player of the Decade
* 7 Style
o 7.1 Approach to cricket
o 7.2 Batting
o 7.3 Bowling and fielding
o 7.4 Captaincy
* 8 Books
* 9 See also
* 10 Notes
* 11 References
* 12 External links
1974–1995: Early life
Main article: Early life of Ricky Ponting
Birth and personal life
Born in Launceston, Tasmania on 19 December 1974, Ricky Ponting is the eldest of Graeme and Lorraine Ponting's four children. Graeme was "a good club cricketer" and played Australian rules, while Lorraine was a state vigoro champion. His uncle Greg Campbell played cricket for Australia in 1989 and 1990. Ponting's parents first lived in Prospect 4.1 km (2.5 mi) south of city centre; however, they moved into the working-class area of Newnham, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of central Launceston.
After marrying long-time girlfriend—law student Rianna Jennifer Cantor—in June 2002, Ponting credited her as the reason for his increased maturity. Their daughter Emmy Charlotte was born in Sydney on 26 July 2008.
Junior ranks
Introduced to cricket by father Graeme and uncle Greg Campbell,[6] Ponting played for the Mowbray Under–13s team at the age of 11 in 1985–86. In January 1986, he took part in the five day annual Northern Tasmania junior cricket competition. After scoring four centuries in a week, bat manufacturer Kookaburra gave Ponting a sponsorship contract while in just eighth grade mainly on the back of these four centuries. Ponting took this form into the Under-16s week-long competition less than a month later, scoring an even century on the final day Ted Richardson, the former head of the Northern Tasmanian Schools Cricket Association said: "Ricky is certainly the equal of David Boon at this level.
Australian Rules football was also a big part of Ponting's sporting life, and is a keen follower of the North Melbourne Kangaroos. During the winter he played junior football for North Launceston and up until he was 14, it could have become a possible sporting option. This was before he broke the humerus in his right arm playing for North Launceston Under–17s as a 13 year-old. Ponting's arm was so badly damaged, it had to be pinned. Told to endure a 14-week lay-off, he never played competitive football again.
During Tasmanian Sheffield Shield matches at the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground (NTCA Ground), Ponting helped out with the scoreboard, thereby surrounding himself with international cricketers. After leaving school at the end of year 10 in 1990, he began work as a groundsman at Scotch Oakburn College, a private school in Launceston. In 1991 the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association sponsored Ponting to attend a fortnight's training at the Australian Institute of Sport's Cricket Academy in Adelaide. The two weeks turned into a full two-year sponsorship as he was acclaimed to be the best 17 year-old batsman, Academy coach Rod Marsh had ever seen.
Playing five games for Tasmania for the 1992 Under–19 carnival in Perth, Ponting scored 350 runs, earning him selection in the 13-man national Under–19 development squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa—the first Australian cricket team to make an official tour to the country since Bill Lawry's team in 1970.[16][17]
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