Ricky Ponting

Australia

Full name Ricky Thomas Ponting

Born December 19, 1974, Launceston, Tasmania

Current age 36 years 60 days

Major teams Australia, ICC World XI, Kolkata Knight Riders, Somerset, Tasmania

Nickname Punter

Playing role Top-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium

Height 1.78 m

Education Mowbray Primary; Brooks Senior High School, Launceston

Relation Uncle - GD Campbell

• World Cup Profile
• Full Profile

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	152	259	28	12363	257	53.51	20827	59.36	39	56	1406	72	178	0
ODIs	352	343	37	13082	164	42.75	16226	80.62	29	79	1166	157	152	0
T20Is	17	16	2	401	98*	28.64	302	132.78	0	2	41	11	8	0
First-class	255	436	55	21332	257	55.98			73	94			270	0
List A	424	415	50	15438	164	42.29			33	94			184	0
Twenty20	22	21	2	460	98*	24.21	375	122.66	0	2	44	13	10	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	152	30	539	242	5	1/0	1/0	48.40	2.69	107.8	0	0	0
ODIs	352	5	150	104	3	1/12	1/12	34.66	4.16	50.0	0	0	0
T20Is	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	255		1434	768	14	2/10		54.85	3.21	102.4		0	0
List A	424		349	269	8	3/34	3/34	33.62	4.62	43.6	0	0	0
Twenty20	22	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics

Test debut	Australia v Sri Lanka at Perth, Dec 8-11, 1995 scorecard
Last Test	Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 26-29, 2010 scorecard
Test statistics	- Statsguru Test analysis - Player analysis menu/filter Test match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Bowling career summary Bowling innings list Bowling match list Best innings bowling Best match bowling Bowling series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most catches in an innings Fielding series statistics
ODI debut	Australia v South Africa at Wellington, Feb 15, 1995 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Nov 5, 2010 scorecard
ODI statistics	- Statsguru ODI analysis - Player analysis menu/filter ODI match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Bowling career summary Bowling innings list Best innings bowling Bowling series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most catches in an innings Fielding series statistics
T20I debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	Australia v Sri Lanka at Nottingham, Jun 8, 2009 scorecard
T20I statistics	- Statsguru T20I analysis - Player analysis menu/filter T20I match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most catches in an innings Fielding series statistics
First-class debut	1992/93
Last First-class	Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 26-29, 2010 scorecard
List A debut	1992/93
Last List A	Australia v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Nov 5, 2010 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Somerset v Northamptonshire at Taunton, Jul 15, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Australia v Sri Lanka at Nottingham, Jun 8, 2009 scorecard

Profile

Ricky Ponting, the most uncompromising player of his generation, grew into Australia's most successful run-maker and only sits below Bradman in the country's overall ratings. It takes an extremely critical eye to diminish his run-scoring achievements, which seem to collect new records in every series. Like spotting a celebrity, it's necessary to look twice when analysing Ponting, first as the archetypal modern batsman, then as the country's 42nd Test captain. There is no doubt about his greatness after taking guard, but his leadership has been under scrutiny for much of his reign. While his blade has sparkled, his stewardship is pock-marked by two Ashes defeats in England, the first since Billy Murdoch in the 19th century to achieve the feat, and stumbles to South Africa and India.

Those results haven't stopped him from becoming the most successful captain in Test history after passing Steve Waugh's 41 wins in the 2009-10 Boxing Day Test. In the same match he overtook Shane Warne's 92 victories as the most by an individual, and he has never lost a World Cup game. For the first three years of his reign he was in charge of a superstar unit and did not have to decide much tactically, but once that group headed for retirement he had to change from a manager to moulder.

As a batsman the only debate is where to rank him in the high reaches of the game's greatest run-makers. Acclaimed by Academy coach Rod Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ponting began with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and was given out unluckily for 96 on his Test debut. There were some teething problems, including a public admission of an alcohol problem, but the longer he went on the more he matured, building up records and runs.

He plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat - the cover drive and the pull are particularly productive methods - and knows only to attack. His breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. Only Sachin Tendulkar has more centuries in Tests and ODIs than Ponting, who is a natural in the game's traditional forms, but resistant to the perks of Twenty20, which he retired from in 2009. There have been setbacks against probing seam attacks, high-class finger-spin and, latterly, short balls, which he insists are meant to be pulled or hooked. These will be minor matters whenever he retires.

• Read More

Timeline

• November 1992
  Starting young
  • Ricky Ponting makes his first-class debut for Tasmania at the age of 17. He is the youngest player to represent Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield.
    
• February 15, 1995
  Disappointing ODI debut
  • Makes ODI debut at the age of 20 and scores 1 against South Africa in Wellington.
    
• December 10, 1995
  Missing out on a debut Test hundred
  • Makes Test debut against Sri Lanka at the WACA and is unlucky to be given out lbw on 96.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 1 of 9 Next »
• December 3, 1996
  On the outer
  • Is dropped after the second Test against West Indies in Sydney where he makes only 9 and 4. One match earlier he scored 88 against the same opposition in his first match at No. 3.
    
• July 24, 1997
  A maiden Test hundred
  • Returns to the Test team with a bang at Headingley, batting at No. 6 and scoring 127, his maiden century. With Matthew Elliott he lifts Australia from 4 for 50 to 9 declared for 501.
    
• January, 1999
  Playing the naughty boy
  • Goes nightclubbing after a one-day match against England and early the next morning is photographed with a black eye after being punched outside a Sydney bar. Receives a three-match ban and $5000 suspended fine, and admits to a drinking problem.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 2 of 9 Next »
• February-March 2001
  Spin quandary
  • Struggles against spin in India, scoring only 17 runs in five innings and falling to Harbhajan Singh each time.
    
• February 2002
  The man in charge
  • Succeeds Steve Waugh as Australia's ODI captain.
    
• February-March 2003
  The World Cup champs
  • Leads Australia's successful World Cup campaign in South Africa, scoring 140 not out in the final.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 3 of 9 Next »
• December 26-30, 2003
  Double-hundreds galore
  • Joins Bradman as the second player to score three double-centuries in a calendar year with 257 against India at the MCG. He reached 242 in the previous match and 206 against West Indies in April, helping him to 1503 runs at 100.2 for 2003. His performances would win him the 2004 Allan Border Medal.
    
• March 2004
  Captain in all forms
  • Takes over the Test captaincy as well after Steve Waugh retires. Leads Australia to a 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka, his first assignment.
    
• October-November 2004
  Untimely injury
  • A broken thumb keeps Ponting on the sidelines as Adam Gilchrist leads Australia to their first series win in India in 35 years. Ponting plays the final Test which Australia lose and take the series 2-1.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 4 of 9 Next »
• January 2005
  Another double
  • Scores 207 against Pakistan in Sydney to become only the third Australian, along with Don Bradman and Greg Chappell, to score four or more double-centuries in Tests.
    
• June 2005
  Beaten by Bangla
  • Suffers humiliating defeat in an ODI against Bangladesh in Cardiff. It's the start of a torrid summer in England.
    
• July-September 2005
  An Ashes setback
  • A heroic 156 saves the Old Trafford Test but, on September 12, Ponting becomes the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 5 of 9 Next »
• January 2-6, 2006
  The perfect 100th Test
  • Ponting scores hundreds in each innings of his 100th Test, against South Africa at the SCG.
    
• March 24-28, 2006
  Joining Gavaskar
  • Scores two more hundreds in the Durban Test, it's the third time Ponting's scored hundreds in each innings of a Test. Sunil Gavaskar is the only other batsman to achieve this feat.
    
• November 2006
  Champion of Champions
  • Leads Australia to Champions Trophy glory in India, thereby winning the only competition that had eluded Australia so far.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 6 of 9 Next »
• January 2007
  Revenge
  • Regains the Ashes in emphatic style. Ponting is the Man of the Series - 576 runs at 82.28 - as Australia becomes the first team in 86 years to achieve an Ashes clean sweep.
    
• April 2007
  Another World Cup title
  • Leads Australia to a hat-trick of World Cup wins, his second as captain, with an undefeated run during the competition in the West Indies.
    
• January 2008
  Breaking a barren run
  • Ponting ends a 13-month century-less run with 140 against India in Adelaide, at the end of a controversial series.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 7 of 9 Next »
• May 2008
  Next only to Sachin
  • Scores 35th Test century, against West Indies in Jamaica, to pass Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara's tallies. Only Sachin Tendulkar is ahead of him.
    
• October 2008
  Ending the India jinx
  • After averaging 12.28 in 14 innings, Ponting finally scores a century in India - a 123 in Bangalore.
    
• July 2009
  Ahead of Allan
  • Passes Allan Border's tally of 11,174 during the Edgbaston Test to become Australia's highest run-scorer.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 8 of 9 Next »
• July-August 2009
  Another Ashes setback
  • Loses the Ashes for the second time, going down 2-1 in England.
    
• September 2009
  Champion of Champions … again
  • Arrives in South Africa after a disappointing tour of England and successfully defends the Champions Trophy.
    
• January 2010
  Prolific Punter
  • Scores fifth double-century, against Pakistan in Hobart, and narrowly misses scoring a double-century and a century in the same Test.
    
Read All »
« Prev Showing 9 of 9 Next »

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
World Cup	39	36	4	1537	140*	48.03	1896	81.06	4	6	130	30	25	0
ODIs	352	343	37	13082	164	42.75	16226	80.62	29	79	1166	157	152	0
List A	424	415	50	15438	164	42.29			33	94			184	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
World Cup	39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
ODIs	352	5	150	104	3	1/12	1/12	34.66	4.16	50.0	0	0	0
List A	424		349	269	8	3/34	3/34	33.62	4.62	43.6	0	0	0

Limited Overs Career Statistics

World Cup span	1996-2007
ODI debut	Australia v South Africa at Wellington, Feb 15, 1995 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Nov 5, 2010 scorecard
List A debut	1992/93
Last List A	Australia v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Nov 5, 2010 scorecar