Ricky Ponting has called it quits on his international cricketing career, following the end of the Australia-South Africa test match being played at the WACA in Perth. The Australian batsman was an ever present threat to the English Ashes hopes and one of the toughest competitors in the sport. His fearsome pull and hook shots are still as fresh as ever in every cricketing fan’s memory, even though it has been almost 17 years since this tough Tasmanian graced the game.
Ponting was all of 20 years when he faced Sri Lanka in Perth, he made 96 in one innings as Australia won the game by an innings and 36 runs. He has been regularly compared with other great batsmen of his generation including Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Steve Waugh, with many considering Ponting to be the best of the lot, mainly because Australia won most of the games he performed in.
Ponting leaves cricket having scored 13,366 runs in 167 test matches, putting him firmly behind only Sir Donald Bradman as one of the greatest Australian batsmen to play the game. ‘Punter’ as he is affectionately called, said that he had told his teammates about his decision a few hours before a press conference in Perth on November 29, 2012.
Ricky said that he felt that his level of cricket was not up to the mark for an international Australian batsmen and that he could not deliver the goods for his team when it mattered most. Australia play South Africa in the last test of a hard fought series between November 30, 2012 and December 4, 2012.
