Ricky Thomas Ponting AO is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, with 220 victories in 324 matches with a winning rate of 67.91%. Ricky Ponting had all the ingredients of a typical Australian - tough as nails, aggressive, vocal and above all, mentally powerful to tackle pressure situations. The best quality about Ponting was his burning desire to win matches and at times, the desperation did bring up infamous incidents but what shone through his career was the sheer desire to be victorious. Three World Cup titles including two consecutive ones as captain to go with a couple of Champions Trophy titles and the no.1 Test ranking shows that he had seen it all in the international arena.

Born in Launceston, Tasmania, on 19 December 1974, Ricky Ponting is the eldest of three children. His uncle Greg Campbell played Test 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. Introduced to cricket by father Graeme and Uncle Greg, 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.

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. 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 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.

Ponting started his 1994/95 campaign with a century against eventual Shield champions Queensland in Brisbane, impressing Queensland captain Allan Border. Speculation again arose that Ponting could become a candidate for the upcoming tour to the West Indies. When Tasmania played Western Australia at Bellerive Oval on 4 November 1994, Ponting scored 211. The century was his fifth successive against Western Australia; Sir Donald Bradman is the only other batsman to score five consecutive centuries against another state in Shield history. Ten days after the double century, Ponting was named in the Australian XI to take on England at Bellerive Oval.

A fourth team was introduced to the World Series Cup in 1994/ 95 - Australia ‘A’ - for the first time. Australian captain Mark Taylor was not a fan of this change as many fans supported Australia ‘A’ rather than the national team. Despite the negative feedback it gave Ponting a chance on the international stage. Playing for Australia ‘A’, he scored 161 runs at 26.83 with one half-century. Ponting's domestic performances were rewarded when he was selected for the Australian ODI team to play in all the matches in the 1995 New Zealand Centenary quadrangular tournament in New Zealand, that also included South Africa and India. Ponting made his debut against South Africa at number six in the batting order. He scored one from six balls, as Australia successfully chased South Africa's target on a difficult batting track.

Ponting was then selected as a specialist batsman and reserve wicket-keeper for the upcoming West Indies tour. His performance was not enough for Ponting to force his way into the Test side; though, Australia did regain the Frank Worrell Trophy for the first time in 20 years, winning the series 2–1. Ponting made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Perth on 8 December, 1995. Sri Lanka batted first and scored 251, before Ponting arrived at the crease with Australia at a comfortable 3/422. He started nervously, edging his first ball past first slip for a boundary from off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. When Ponting reached 96, Chaminda Vaas hit Ponting high on his thigh and was given out leg before wicket. However, Ponting's performance was overshadowed by Australian umpire Darrell Hair no-balling Muralitharan for throwing on seven occasions, increasing tensions between the two teams.

He played in all ten games of the World Series ODI Cup played between Australia, Sri Lanka and the West Indies after the Test series. Ponting started the series at number four but moved up a position midway through the season, after opener Michael Slater was dropped. He broke through for his maiden ODI century in his 12th match, scoring 123 from 138 balls against Sri Lanka at the MCG. However, the effort was not enough to prevent Sri Lanka from victory. Ponting ended his first home ODI tournament with 341 runs at 34.10, including one century and three fifties, as Australia ended as series champions.

A Tamil Tiger bombing in Colombo coupled with death threats to some members of the team forced Australia to forfeit their scheduled 1996 Cricket World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Ponting batted in the number three position for the entire tournament. He continued to be inconsistent with scores of 12 and 33 against India and Zimbabwe, before becoming the youngest batsman to score a World Cup century, when he scored 102 runs from 112 balls against the West Indies in Jaipur. Ponting wore a cap instead of a helmet to show the West Indians that he did not fear them or their quicks. Ponting ended his first World Cup campaign with 229 runs at 32.71.

Ponting continued in the No.3 role for the series against the West Indies in 1996–97 in Australia. After two Test matches and three scores under 10, he was replaced by Justin Langer, despite scoring 88 in the First Test. He was out of the team for six months, and missed the remaining three Tests against the West Indies, the three Tests on the tour to South Africa, both series victories to Australia.

Ponting was selected for the 1997 Ashes tour of England, but did not play in any of the three preceding ODIs. n his first Ashes Test, Ponting scored his first Test century (127, batting at No. 6). He played the last three Tests and ended the series with 241 runs at 48.20. Ponting only played in three ODIs in early stages of the 1996/97 season in Australia, scoring 68 runs at 22.66 in December 1996 before being dropped.

Ince recalled, he made his first Test century on Australian soil, scoring 105 in the First Test against South Africa at the MCG. He added a fifty in the next match and ended the series with 248 runs at 49.60. Ponting has his most successful ODI season to date, scoring 462 runs at 57.75 in the annual tri-series, including a 100 against New Zealand and three fifties. The 100 was Ponting's third ODI century, but Australia lost all three matches. He scored 76 in the third and deciding final against South Africa, which Australia won. In a brief four-match ODI tour of New Zealand at the end of the season, Ponting scored 76 runs at 25.33.

Despite a poor Test series against India with Tendulkar blazing away, Ponting's form in ODIs remained strong. In consecutive tournaments in India and Sharjah following the Tests, Ponting scored 467 runs at 51.88. In addition to three fifties, Ponting scored 145 from 158 balls in the Pepsi Cup against Zimbabwe in Delhi, equalling Dean Jones' Australian record. On the subsequent tour of Pakistan less than six months later, Ponting was dropped in favour of Darren Lehmann. The left-hander was perceived to be a better player of spin and a better prospect on the dry pitches of the Indian subcontinent than Ponting. He played in all the following ODIs against Pakistan, which Australia won 3–0. In the final match, Ponting scored 124 not out from 129 balls, as Australia chased down 316 with six wickets to spare. He finished the series with 215 runs at 107.50.

Mark Taylor retired from international cricket in February 1999, and was replaced by ODI captain Steve Waugh. Lehmann failed to make much impact in the final two Ashes Tests and was dropped for the 1998–99 tour of the West Indies, while Ponting was recalled. . On a pitch that became increasingly flat throughout the day, Ponting - who came to the crease with the score at 4–144 - joined Steve Waugh in a 281 run partnership. After Waugh survived one of Ambrose's "more threatening spells", he scored 199 and Ponting 104, batting with the maturity and even temperament associated with the champions of the game.

Australia started their 1999 World Cup campaign in England with success against minnows Scotland, before defeats by Pakistan and New Zealand. Ponting scored, 33, 47 and 49 respectively. After the twin defeats, pundits doubted whether Australia could make the semi-finals let alone win the tournament. In the last match of the Super Six stage of the tournament, Australia were to play South Africa in a match they needed to win to make the semi-finals. Steve Waugh joined Ponting in the middle and scored 22 runs in ten overs. Both then agreed increase the scoring in a mid-pitch conversation. They were involved in a 126-run stand until Ponting fell for 69 scored in 110 balls, including five fours and two sixes, helping Australia win with two balls to spare. The sides met again in the semi final - resulting in a tie. AUSTRALIA comfortably accounted for Pakistan in the final, winning by eight wickets, after they were set a target of 132. Ponting scored 24 in Australia's first World Cup win since 1987. He ended the tournament with 354 runs at 39.33.

Australia soon travelled to Sri Lanka for a three-Test series, which they lost 1–0. Ponting was one of Australia's few effective players during the tour and was Man-of-the-Series, ending with 253 runs at 84.33. In the First Test defeat at Kandy, Ponting scored 96 and 51, almost half of Australia's match total of 328 runs. The Second Test was severely interrupted by rain and Ponting scored just one in his only innings. He scored 105 not out in the Third Test in Colombo, his only Test century in Sri Lanka. Despite having a perceived weakness against spin, Ponting played Muralitharan the best out of all the Australian batsmen.

Ponting started the 1999/2000 season poorly, with ducks in his first three Test innings in the series against Pakistan, including a pair on his home ground Bellerive Oval. He ended the run in style, scoring 197 in the Third Test at the WACA. Australia won the series 3-0. and Ponting proceeded to score 125 in the First Test against India at the Adelaide Oval. He brought this form into the initial stages of the following 1999–2000 Carlton United ODI series, hitting 32 and 115, before three consecutive ducks. Ponting, however, ended the rut towards the back end of the series, stringing together 53, 43, 33, 50 and 78, as Australia won the tournament.

Ahead of the first Test of the 2000/01 season in November, Ponting found form while playing for Tasmania. He scored 233 against a strong Queensland bowling team that included Andy Bichel, Adam Dale and Ashley Noffke. The innings included 37 boundaries and four sixes, and was so dominant, the next highest score for the innings was 61. . In the second and final first-class match Ponting played for Tasmania in the season, he scored a more sedate 187 against New South Wales in Hobart, assuring him a place in the Test side. He ended the Test season with 366 runs at a 52.28 average.

Although the Test team had continued to perform well, sweeping South Africa 3–0 in the home series in 2001/02, the One-Day International team suffered a slump, failing to qualify for the finals of the triangular tournament, leading to the dropping of Steve Waugh from the one-day team in February 2002. Ponting was elevated to the captaincy, ahead of then vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. The fortunes of the ODI team revived immediately, and Ponting's men won their first series during the tour of South Africa, defeating the team that had won the tournament which ended Waugh's reign.

Following his elevation to the ODI captaincy, Ponting played a prominent role in the Test tour of South Africa. He scored 100 not out to steer Australia to a four-wicket win in the Second Test in Cape Town, bringing up the winning runs with a six from the bowling of Paul Adams. He struck 89 in the Third Test and ended the series with 308 runs at 77.25 with a strike rate of 76.48. Australia entered the seven-match ODI series without both of the Waugh twins. Ponting was prominent in the 3–0 whitewash of Pakistan on neutral territory in late 2002. He struck 141 in the First Test in Colombo and 150 in the Third Test in Sharjah to end with 342 runs at 85.50.

England toured for the 2002/03 Australian season, and Ponting struck 123 in the First Test in Brisbane. His form continued with 154 in the Second Test in Adelaide, meaning that he had scored four centuries in five Tests. Australia won the latter match by an innings and Ponting scored 68 in the Third Test in Perth as Australia took an unassailable 3–0 lead. He was unable to pass fifty in the final two Tests and ended the series with 417 runs at 52.12.

Ponting struck 169 and 53 not out against Zimbabwe at home, and passed 5,000 Test runs during his first innings century.[ The Australian number three ended the two-match series with 259 runs at 129.50. In the midst of the lack of public attention and poor crowds, Ponting wrote how he was unsure whether Bangladesh and Zimbabwe should be playing Test cricket. Before Australia's next game against India, Ponting was named the Wisden International Cricketer of the Year in an award ceremony in Mumbai. After defeating New Zealand, India qualified for the final against Australia. Batting first in Kolkata, Australia managed 5/235, as Ponting scored 36. India were bowled out for 198, leaving Australia victors by 37 runs. He finished the series with 296 runs - the third highest run-scorer - at an average of 42.83.

After making 54 and 50 in the rain-drawn First Test in Brisbane, Ponting scored double-centuries in back-to-back Tests against India, in the Second Test at Adelaide (242) and at Melbourne (257, his career high). He hit 31 not out in the second innings in Melbourne as Australia levelled the series 1–1 and scored 25 and 47 in the drawn Fourth Test in Sydney to end as the leading run-scorer for the series, with 706 runs at 100.85. Having also scored 206 at Port-of-Spain earlier in the year, he became only the second player (Sir Donald Bradman the other) to hit three double centuries in a calendar year. Ponting's 242 against India at Adelaide is also the highest ever Test score by a batsman whose team was subsequently defeated in the match.

Ponting oversaw a successful campaign in the 2004/05 Australian season. They won all five Tests, defeating New Zealand 2-0 and Pakistan 3-0. Ponting scored 145 runs at 72.50 against New Zealand in a winning start to his Test captaincy on home soil. For his performances in 2004, he was named as captain of both the World Test XI and ODI XI by ICC. In the First Test against Pakistan in Perth, Ponting made 98 in the second innings. Australia went on to crush the visitors by over 400 runs. Ponting struck 62 not out in the second innings as Australia won by nine wickets in the Second Test in Melbourne, and then brought up his maiden century as captain, scoring 207 in the New Year's Test in Sydney, which ended in another convincing nine-wicket triumph. He ended the series with 403 runs at 100.75.

Australia lost to England 2–1 after starting the series as favourites. Ponting thus became the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986–87 to lose an Ashes series. The 2005 series was hailed as one of the great Test series, but Ponting faced significant criticism afterwards and his tenure as captain was questioned. The setback to Australia, and to Ponting as Australian captain, of the 2005 Ashes defeat, was to prove a strong motivation for the Australian camp to improve their standards and overcome any complacency that may have arisen from Australia's being the world's premier cricketing nation for a decade.

Australia were untroubled during the 2005/06 home season - whitewashing the West Indies 3–0 before defeating South Africa 2–0 in three Tests. They then toured South Africa and recorded a 3–0 whitewash in the Tests. In the series against the West Indies, Ponting scored a century in each innings of the First Test in Brisbane, 149 and 104 not out. Ponting was in a rich vein of form against the South Africans. After scoring 71 and 53 in the drawn First Test in Perth, Ponting scored 117 on Boxing Day in the Second Test at the MCG. Australia won the match and Ponting scored 120 and 143 not out to end the series and start the New Year with a dramatic win in the Third Test at the SCG. Ponting made 143 not out in only 159 balls to secure an eight-wicket win. It was the first time anyone had scored two centuries in their 100th Test and Ponting was named man of the match and man of the series. He had scored 515 runs at 103.00.

Australia continued their run in South Africa even in the absence of McGrath for family reasons. Ponting scored 103 and 116 in the Second Test in Durban, making it three Test centuries in consecutive innings at the ground. He ended the series with 348 runs at 58.00. Remarkably his performance at Durban meant that Ponting had scored twin centuries in three separate Tests between November 2005 and March 2006, as part of 1192 runs at 79.5 in nine matches over the same period. On 12 March 2006 Ponting scored 164 in only 105 balls in the 5th ODI against South Africa in Johannesburg, as Australia made a record total of 434 for 4, only to be beaten by South Africa.

Australia won the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India, finally winning the ODI tournament that had eluded them despite their World Cup success. In November 2006, the England cricket team again took on Australia in the first Test of a five Test series that was widely expected to be a tremendous contest. In the First Test in Brisbane, Ponting top-scored in Australia's first innings with 196 runs, and he followed this up with 60 not out in the second as Australia took the initiative with a commanding win. In the Second Test in Adelaide, Ponting top-scored with 142, helping Australia to a total of 513 in response to England's 6/551. Australia went on to win the match by six wickets after a last day English collapse, Ponting making 49 in the chase. At the conclusion of the match, Ponting's batting average peaked at 59.99. The Third Test played at the WACA Ground saw another win to Australia by 206 runs to reclaim the Ashes.

Further wins in Melbourne and Sydney, made Ponting's team the second team (after Warwick Armstrong's Australian team in 1920–21) to win an Ashes series 5–0, and that against what had been thought to be a formidable team, the second strongest cricketing team in the world. Ponting was awarded Man of the Series for the 2006–07 Ashes series after scoring 576 runs at an average of 82.29 including 2 centuries and 2 half centuries.

The 2007/08 started a new era for Australia, as McGrath and Warne had both retired at the end of the previous Ashes series. However, the series against India was much harder fought. Australia won the First Test easily, by 337 runs, but the matches thereafter were more difficult. The Second Test was closely fought and ended in Australian victory minutes before the end of play. This saw Australia equal the world record of 16 consecutive Test wins; Ponting, was part of Steve Waugh side that set the previous record in 1999/2001.

The tour of the West Indies was the first overseas Test series for Australia in 25 months, and the first for Ponting's new look bowling attack. In five previous Test series in 1999 and 2003, he averaged 98.71, with four hundreds. He also averaged 42.80 in 25 ODIs from four tours - 1995, 1999, 2003 and the 2007 World Cup. After winning the toss and electing to bat in the First Test in Kingston, Jamaica, Ponting recorded his 35th Test century and was eventually dismissed for 158 from 224 balls. In the Second Test, Ponting became the seventh player and third Australian to score 10,000 Test runs. It took Ponting 118 Tests and 196 innings to achieve the feat, one slower than Tendulkar and Lara.

In 2008, Ponting led the Australians back to India and was under pressure following the confrontations during the Indian tour of Australia earlier in the year. He acknowledged that he was keen to rectify his poor Test batting record in India. In the First Test on a turning pitch in Bangalore, Ponting brought up his first Test century in India, 123 on the first day. Ponting experienced a form slump for much of 2008, albeit in comparison to his usually high standards. However, he again exceeded 1,000 runs in the calendar year. Ponting scored his 37th century in the first innings of the Second Test against South Africa on Boxing Day, and followed that with 99 in the second innings, seemingly a lone stand against the South African bowling attack.

In his 38th hundred and eighth in an Ashes series, the Australian number three batsman became just the fourth man to score 11,000 runs in Test cricket. Australia went on to lose the series 2–1 and Ponting became only the third Australian captain to lose the Ashes twice. In September 2009, Ponting announced his retirement from Twenty20 international cricket in order to prolong his career.

Australia entered the 2010/11 Ashes series hoping to regain The Ashes from England on home soil as they had four years previously. Ponting became the first Australian captain to lose an Ashes series in Australia since Allan Border in 1987. Ponting was promoted to captain in the 2011–12 Series in Australia in Michael Clarke's absence due to injury. However, after only two games as captain he was dropped, having scored only 18 runs in 5 games. On 29 November 2012 Ponting announced that he would retire from Test cricket after the WACA test against South Africa. After retiring from test cricket, Ponting played out the Sheffield Shield season with eventual champions Tasmania. He was the competition's leading run scorer with 911 runs at an average of 75.91. As a result of his prolific form with the bat, he was named the Sheffield Shield player of the year.

Ponting was the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2003 and one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2006. He has been the Allan Border Medalist a record four times in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009 (with Michael Clarke). Ponting has won the award of Australia's best Test player in 2003, 2004 and 2007 and Australia's best One Day International player in 2002 and 2007.