Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) 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%.
He has made the third highest number of centuries in international cricket, behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. He holds the record for winning most ICC tournaments as a captain in Men's Cricket, including the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups, and 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophies. He was also a member of the 1999 Cricket World Cup winning Australian team.
Domestically, Ponting played for his home state of Tasmania as well as Tasmania's Hobart Hurricanes in Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. He played as a specialist right-handed batsman, an excellent slip fielder, as well as a very occasional bowler. He led Australia to their second 5–0 Ashes win as well as victory at the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and was also a member of the 1999 World Cup winning team under Steve Waugh. He led Australia to consecutive ICC Champions Trophy victory in 2006 and 2009. Combative and at times a controversial captain, statistically he is one of the most successful Test captains of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests. As a player, Ponting is the only cricketer in history to be involved in 100 Test victories and was involved in the most ODI victories as a player, with 262 wins, having played in over 160 Tests and 370 ODIs.
A prolific batsman, Ponting is Australia's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket. He was named "Cricketer of the Decade 2000" was named in the country's best Ashes XI in a Cricket Australia poll in 2017 and in July 2018 he was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He is the current assistant coach of the Australian national men's cricket team, having been appointed to the role in February 2019.
Ponting announced his retirement from Test cricket in November 2012, the day before playing in his final Test against South Africa; this was his 168th and last Test appearance, equalling the Australian record held by Steve Waugh. He retired with a Test batting average of 51.85, although he continued to play cricket around the world until 2013.
Born in Launceston, Tasmania, on 19 December 1974, Ricky Ponting is the eldest of Graeme and Lorraine Ponting's 3 children. Graeme was "a good club cricketer" and played Australian rules football, while Lorraine was a state vigoro champion. 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.
After marrying his long-time girlfriend, law student Rianna Cantor, in June 2002, Ponting credited her as the reason for his increased maturity. The couple have three children.
Introduced to cricket by father Graeme and uncle Greg Campbell, 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 mainly on the back of these four centuries. Ponting took this form into the Under-16s week-long competition less than a month later, scoring an even century on the final day. Ted Richardson, the former head of the Northern Tasmanian Schools Cricket Association said: "Ricky is certainly the equal of David Boon at this level.
Australian Rules football was also a big part of Ponting's sporting life, and is a keen follower of the North Melbourne Kangaroos. In 2024, Ponting’s Wine brand (Ponting Wines) announced a partnership with North Melbourne During the winter he played junior football for North Launceston and up until he was 14, it could have become a possible sporting option. This was before he broke the humerus in his right arm playing for North Launceston Under-17s as a 13-year-old. Ponting's arm was so badly damaged, it had to be pinned. Told to endure a 14-week lay-off, he never played competitive football again.
During Tasmanian Sheffield Shield matches at the NTCA Ground (Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground), Ponting helped out with the scoreboard, thereby surrounding himself with international cricketers. After leaving school at the end of year 10 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 to attend a fortnight's training at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide. The two weeks turned into a full two-year sponsorship as he was said to be the best 17-year-old batsman Academy coach Rod Marsh had ever seen.
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.
Early Australian domestic career
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. He lost his place in the national team several times in the period before early-1999, due to lack of form and discipline, before becoming One Day International captain in early-2002 and Test captain in early 2004.
After scoring 114 not out in club match against Riverside, Ponting became the youngest player to appear for Tasmania in a Sheffield Shield match, breaking Boon's record by 14 days. In November 1992, with Ponting just 17 years and 337 days, he went to the crease at number four against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Despite scoring 56 in a 127-run partnership with Boon, he could not prevent a defeat, scoring just four in Tasmania's second innings. In his first match in Tasmania, this time against New South Wales, Ponting contributed 32 and 18 in a draw. He followed this up with 25 against Western Australia in a narrow loss. His first match in Sydney also marked the debut of future Australian opening bowler Glenn McGrath. His subsequent century also meant that Ponting became the youngest Tasmanian to score a first-class century at 18 years and 40 days, eclipsing Boon's record of 19 years and 356 days. After scoring another half century, Ponting scored back to back centuries against Western Australia on Australia's fastest wicket in Perth. He became the youngest batsmen in Shield history to score twin centuries in a match. After setting a goal of scoring 500 runs in the season, he ended up scoring 781 at 48.81. After season's end, Ponting played seven four-day games for the Australian Academy, scoring 484 runs at 96.70, even though he was still only 18.
Speculation ignited that Ponting was an outsider to join the Australian squad on their 1993 tour to England. Despite Ponting's reluctance to weigh into the debate, Tasmanian coach Greg Shipperd thought he could handle the experience. The selectors ended up choosing 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–September 1993. Australian success was limited, with only several wins. No batsman scored a century, despite Ponting reaching 99 not out in a one-day game in Colombo. He finished the tour second highest in the aggregates, behind Langer.