Ricky
Ponting

Speaker Profile

Ricky Ponting is the present captain of the Australian One-Day and Test cricket teams. He is one of the world's leading batsmen in both forms of the game, as of June 2004 having made 6019 runs in 78 Tests at the outstanding batting average of 54.7, and 7255 runs at 42 (and with a strike rate of 78) in 201 one-day international matches.

Unlike many Australian cricketers, Ponting's talents were quickly rewarded with selection, playing for Tasmania at age 17, and his test debut coming against Sri Lanka in the 1995/96 season at age 20. Early off-field difficulties, involving him on two occasions getting excessively drunk while on tour, and once becoming involved in a bar fight, saw him temporarily dropped from the team in 1999, but aside from an ankle injury in 2000 he has been a permanent fixture in the team, mostly batting in the number 3 position where the best batsman in the team is traditionally played.

In 2002, Ponting became captain, leading his team to a dominant performance in the 2003 cricket World Cup which was highlighted by the complete demolition of the undisputed second-best team in the tournament, India, in the final with a brilliant unbeaten 140-run innings. With Waugh's retirement, he 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'.

In 2004, Ponting was named Leading Cricketer in the World by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

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