Allan Border Medal 2004 Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2006
Ricky Thomas Ponting (born December 19, 1974, in Launceston, Tasmania) is the captain of the Australian One-Day and Test cricket teams. As of May 2006, he is the world's leading batsman in Test cricket according to the ICC rankings, and second in the rankings for One-day Internationals. He has made over 8,500 Test runs in 103 Tests at an average of over 58 with 31 centuries. In one-day international matches, Ponting has made over 9,000 runs in 250 matches at an average of 42 with a strike rate of 79.
Unlike many Australian cricketers, Ponting's talents were quickly rewarded with selection, playing for Tasmania at age 17, with his Test debut coming against Sri Lanka in the 1995/96 season at age 20 at Perth where he was out for a dubious lbw decision for 96 in his first Test innings. After appearing in six Test matches Ponting then lost his place for a time before returning triumphantly to the team against England at Leeds in July 1997 when he scored his first Test century.
Early off-field difficulties, involving him on two occasions getting excessively drunk while on tour, and once becoming involved in a bar fight saw him temporarily dropped from the team in 1999, but aside from an ankle injury in 2000 he has been a permanent fixture in the team, mostly batting in the number 3 position where the best batsman in the team is often played.
With the dropping of Waugh from the one-day team in 2002, Ponting was elevated to the captaincy, ahead of then vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. At the time, this was considered rather surprising by many commentators. He led his team to a dominant performance in the 2003 cricket World Cup which was highlighted by the complete demolition of the undisputed second-best team in the tournament, India, in the final with a brilliant, coruscating 140-run innings. With Waugh's retirement, he assumed the Test captaincy and continued Australia's success in that form of the game, notably whitewashing Sri Lanka 3-0 in Sri Lanka, a rare achievement on the subcontinent.
In the 200506 season, he scored a century in both innings of a Test match three times, including becoming the first man to score a century in each innings of his 100th Test match. He is the only the second man (after Sunil Gavaskar) to score centuries in both innings of a Test match 3 times, and the first to do it in a single season.
On 12 March 2006, he scored 164 in only 105 balls in a one-day international against South Africa in Johannesburg as Australia made a record total of 4 for 434, only to be beaten by South Africa's 9 for 438. At the end of the match Ponting was jointly awarded Man of the Match with Herschelle Gibbs. Ponting declined the award saying that Gibbs deserved the award more than he did.
He is also the only cricketer to have won the Allan Border Medal twice, and the only cricketer to score over 1500 Test match runs in a calendar year twice.
Full name : Ricky Thomas Ponting
Born : December 19, 1974, Launceston, Tasmania
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Bowling style : Right-arm medium
Test debut : Australia v Sri Lanka at Perth - Dec 8-11, 1995
ODI debut : Australia v South Africa at Wellington - Feb 15, 1995
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is a Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to take place in England in June of 2009. It will be the second World Twenty20 and will consist of 12 teams, contested by all Test-playing nations plus qualifiers (Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland)
The Champions Twenty20 League, formed with the official sanction of ICC will kick off in October 2008. Eight domestic teams from four nations will participate. Cricket Australia will partner the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA). The champion team in the Champions Twenty20 league will get US $5 million, which is the highest ever prize money for a cricket event.
