Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Thomas Ponting, born on the 19th December 1972, plays cricket for the Australian Cricket team. He made his first class debut for Tasmania at the age of seventeen in 1992, he also captained the Australian team in test match cricket between 2004 and 2011.

Early life.
Ricky was born in Launceston, Tasmania. He had a very good upbringing and got all the support that he needed to succeed in cricket. His parents took him to cricket games and bought him all the gear he needed. When Ricky was 17 he played his first game for Tasmania which made him the youngest player to play in a Shield game. A lot of people thought that he was just another kid, yet some knew that he was the best young talent around. Ricky's parents played a big part in his life, which I think is both important and amazing.

Cricketing career
Ricky is one of only three players in the world to score 13,000 test runs. He is also the most statistically successful captain of all time, with 48 victories in 77 tests between 2004 and 2010. He represents many teams such as the Tasmanian Tigers, Hobart Hurricanes as well as having played in the Indian Premier League for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008. Ricky Ponting made his test debut on 8 December 1995 vs Sri Lanka and currently has 366 test caps. His ODI debut began on 15 February1995 vs South Africa and he currently has 123 ODI caps. After being involved in over 160 tests and 370 ODI’s, Ponting is Australia's top run scorer in ODI's and tests. Ricky was dropped from the team due to a lack of discipline which really put a holt on his carear, but luckily he was reselected just three months later.


Later career / charity work / inspirational
I find Ricky Ponting inspirational because of the age he started to play cricket at and the many charities that he supports, like the Glen Magrath Foundation, Cancer Society and many more. The other thing I admire about Ricky is that when he was down and not scoring runs, when the media were criticizing him on the way that he was playing, it didn’t stop him from trying and getting better in the nets. It finally paid off when in a recent test match series against India, he scored 200 in the first match and 156 in the third match.This was a promising time for Ricky and after scoring 50 runs in the ODI against India, he said, ” This is a great run of form but I have to make the most of it.”                            


Conclusion
What a brilliant career so far! I would love to follow in Ricky's foot steps. I love to watch him on television and hear his accomplishments in the news.