Early life of Ricky Ponting

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Ricky Ponting is a former Australian international cricketer who was born on 19 December 1974. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for the Australian cricket team against the South Africa cricket team in New Zealand at the age of 20 on 15 February 1995. The eldest of three children, Ponting emulated the feats of his father, playing cricket in summer and Australian rules football in winter, before breaking his arm while playing the latter sport for a junior North Launceston Football Club team as a 14-year-old. He was educated in the Tasmanian state school system, studying at Mowbray Heights Primary and Brooks High School.[1]

Ponting received a bat sponsorship with

World Series Cup
, before making his Australian debut.

Birth

Born in

Tamar River.[5]

Junior ranks

Introduced to cricket by father Graeme and uncle Greg,[4] Ponting was able to play 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.[6] On the Monday, he struggled to trouble the scorers, however, he bounced back with a century on Tuesday. Wednesday saw him make 117 not out and he continued his form into Thursday and Friday, scoring centuries on both days.[7] Afterwards, bat manufacturer Kookaburra gave Ponting a sponsorship contract when he was still only 14 years old. Ponting took this form into the Under-16s week-long competition less than a month later, scoring an even century on the final day.[8] Ted Richardson, the former head of the Northern Tasmanian Schools Cricket Association said: "Ricky is certainly the equal of David Boon at this level. At his age he's the best I've seen in the north. His technique, application, and temperament are all excellent and he has the modesty he will need to progress further."[8]

Australian Rules football was also a big part of Ponting's sporting life; during winter he played junior football for North Launceston and until he was 14, it could have become a possible sporting option, before he broke the humerus in his right arm playing for North Launceston Under–17s. Ponting's arm was so badly damaged that it had to be pinned.[9] Told to endure a 14-week lay-off, he never played competitive football again.[10] He later wrote: "At one stage I was concerned that the arm injury might also stop me from playing cricket but they [the doctors] did a pretty good job on pinning the bones—and it hasn't bothered me since."[11]

In 1986, Ponting said: "I'd love to play for Australia [...] I look up to David Boon because he's from here [Launceston]."

Year 10 as a 16-year-old 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 so that he could attend a fortnight's training at the Australian Institute of Sport's Cricket Academy in Adelaide.[11][14] The two weeks turned into a full two-year scholarship as he was acclaimed to be the best 17-year-old batsman Academy coach Rod Marsh had ever seen.[15]

Playing five games for Tasmania in the 1992 Under–19 tournament 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; South Africa were banned from international sport soon after because of their government's policy of apartheid, and were not readmitted until the 1990s.[16] Under the captaincy of Adam Gilchrist, the Australians played four one-day and four three-day games, winning five and drawing three. Ponting scored 430 runs at an average of 45.67.[17][18]
Later recalling the excitement of the experience, Ponting wrote:

It dawned on me when I was being fitted for my traveling uniform that I was about to represent my country. When that hit home it was a very proud moment in my life. Even though it was not a real representative tour it felt like it to me [...] It wasn't until we all gathered at the airport that I got the real rush of excitement because there I was, this sixteen year-old kid about to take off and play cricket in a strange country, and from what we had been told it would be in conditions like we had never experienced before. We were all excited with the prospect of taking on the South Africans and we had been told about the wickets being bouncy and fast, similar to the WACA strip in Perth.[19]

Early Australian domestic career

After scoring 114 not out in a club match against

Perth, the nation's fastest wicket,[26] thus becoming the youngest batsmen in Shield history to score two centuries in a match. After setting a goal of scoring 500 first-class runs in the season, Ponting finished with 781 runs at 48.81. But his form in List A games were not as strong, aggregating 99 at 33 in four matches. Still, Ponting hit an unbeaten 59 from 52 balls against a touring England A side in Hobart.[27] After the season's end, still aged 18, Ponting played seven four-day games for the Australian Academy, scoring 484 runs at 96.70.[28]

Speculation ignited that Ponting was an outsider to be selected for the Australian squad on their 1993 tour to England. Of the speculation, Ponting said "At the start of the season I was wondering whether or not I'd play Shield cricket this year and all of a sudden there's talk in the papers that I'm a chance go on an Australian tour of England. I think it's way out of reach – there are blokes like [South Australian] Jamie Siddons who have scored 20 or 30 first-class centuries who are ahead of me.[28] Nevertheless, Shipperd thought Ponting could handle the experience: "A lot of attention affects different people in different ways, but Ricky is such a well-rounded young fella that it hasn't changed him. I've told him to enjoy the all the attention and if he just keeps on being himself I'm sure he'll cope well with all the success that I imagine he will achieve."[29] The selectors eventually chose Western Australian batsman Damien Martyn for the tour, with Ponting selected in the Academy squad captained by Justin Langer, which toured India and Sri Lanka for seven games in August and September in 1993. Australian success was limited, with only a few wins. No batsman scored a century, but Ponting reached 99 not out in a one-day game in Colombo. He finished the tour second highest in the run-scorers behind Langer.[30] Before the start of the 1993–94 Sheffield Shield season, Ponting spoke of his goals for the summer. "I've got myself the goal of making 1,000 runs in the season. Hopefully, I can stay in the middle long enough or do that. You can't worry about other people's expectation. I don't care at all what is written in the press. I like to read it but it doesn't go too far into my head."[30] In Tasmania's final round-robin match of the season, they needed to defeat South Australia outright to qualify for the final. Set 366 runs to win in 102 overs, Ponting joined Dene Hills at the crease with the score at 2/35. Ponting scored 161 in a 290-run partnership that ended with Tasmania needing just 41 runs for victory. Despite Tasmania losing four quick wickets after his dismissal, they won with four wickets in hand.[31][32] Disappointingly for Ponting, he could not repeat the performance in the final against New South Wales. He scored just one and 28, as Tasmania were defeated by an innings and 61 runs.[33] The season saw Ponting score 965 runs at 48.25, close to his 1,000 run goal.[31][34]

A month after the final, he was again selected for the Academy squad for three limited overs matches against a touring Indian team. Queenslander Stuart Law captained the Australian side that included former Australian keeper Rod Marsh. In Australia's victory in the first match in Canberra, Ponting top-scored with 71, before making 52 in a victory in Sydney. The last match was also successful for the home team, with Ponting not required to bat.[35]

Ponting started his 1994–95 campaign with a century against eventual Shield champions Queensland in Brisbane, in a performance that impressed Queensland captain Allan Border, who had just retired from international cricket after leading the national team for a decade. Border said of Ponting: "He's just an outstanding prospect. The thing I like about him is he's very aggressive, he plays all the shots, he's equally at home on the front foot as the back foot. He cuts and pulls well, and he drives well. You don't often see that, the ability to get on [the] front foot and back foot and play equally well."[35] Speculation once again arose that Ponting could be selected for the upcoming tour to the West Indies. When Tasmania played Western Australia at

Sir Donald Bradman is the only other batsman to score five consecutive centuries against another state in Shield history. He continued to 211, sharing a 319-run stand with captain Rod Tucker in the process.[36] Ten days after the double century, Ponting was named in the Australian XI to play England at Bellerive Oval in a match that was used as practice for fringe Australian players before the upcoming series in the West Indies. Future Australian representatives Matthew Hayden, Langer, Greg Blewett and Martyn were also selected. In a drawn match, Ponting compiled a half-century, but Martyn scored a century.[37]

A fourth team was introduced to the

New Zealand. Trent Bouts, a cricket writer for The Australian said: "His selection at age 20 would normally represent a bold gamble on youth but so precocious are his talents it amounts to a routine progression."[40] Ponting made his ODI debut against South Africa at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on 15 February 1995.[41]

Notes

  1. ^ "Ricky Ponting Player Profile". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. 12 August 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b Richardson (2002), pp. 18–20.
  3. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 20.
  4. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 18.
  5. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 19.
  6. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 21.
  7. ^ Richardson (2002), pp. 21–22.
  8. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 22.
  9. ^ Ponting and Staples (1998), p. 12.
  10. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 24.
  11. ^ a b Ponting and Staples (1998), p. 13.
  12. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 25.
  13. ^ Ponting and Staples (1998), pp. 10–11.
  14. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 26.
  15. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 27.
  16. ^ Ponting and Staples (1998), pp. 30–31.
  17. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 28.
  18. ^ Ponting and Staples (1998), p. 35.
  19. ^ Ponting and Staples (1998), pp. 31–32.
  20. ^ Richardson (2002), pp. 30–31.
  21. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 31.
  22. ^ a b c Richardson (2002), p. 32.
  23. ^ This notation means that six wickets were lost in the process of scoring 200 runs
  24. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 33.
  25. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  26. ^ staff (12 August 2006). "Has the WACA pitch lost its shine?". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  27. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  28. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 34.
  29. ^ Richardson (2002), pp. 34–35.
  30. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 35.
  31. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 36.
  32. ^ "South Australia v Tasmania, 17–20 March 1994". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  33. ^ "New South Wales v Tasmania, 25–29 March 1994". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  34. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 143.
  35. ^ a b Richardson (2002), p. 37.
  36. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 38.
  37. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 40.
  38. ^ a b Richardson (2002), pp. 40–41.
  39. ^ "World Series Cup in Aust. Dec 1994/Jan 1995 – Batting Averages". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  40. ^ Richardson (2002), pp. 41–42.
  41. ^ Richardson (2002), p. 44.

References

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