How the gamble on Punter has paid off with interest

Ricky Ponting's victory lap of Wanderers Cricket Ground was curtailed by the storm that thundered the message of Australia's emphatic victory. The journey of life and cricket that took him to the mountain peak of this popular form of the game had not been so brief or straightforward for the lad from Launceston.

Outside of the staunch and monocular people of Tasmania there was very little thought given to Ponting's chances of holding Australian cricket's highest honour in his early days as an international player.

He had suffered the ignominy of public and media scrutiny for his drinking habits and inability to display any vague notion of the Marquis of Queensberry's guidelines. The notorious Bourbon and Beefstake bar in Sydney's Soho, Kingscross, had been the scene of an alcohol-sodden fist fight after an international.

Ponting was rendered unconscious by a vigorous Polynesian the size of Mt Kilimanjaro. There was no evidence that Ricky had started or finished the stoush but the fact remained that he was out in the wee hours, under the influence and getting into trouble. Not the credentials a future captain may want on their curriculum vitae, unless he was involved in the football codes.

The Australian selectors and board members took heavy black ink to their notebooks. Ricky Ponting, like his Tasmanian forebear David Boon, began his first-class career in his teens. Boon was his mentor in many respects, some of them admirable, such as the penchant for the flick off the toes and violent pull shot. The apprenticeship was useful and thorough.

A young talent emerged in his early 20s, but the maturity of strokeplay and character did not match stride. His well-known nickname is Punter: nothing convoluted about the genesis: like his friend Mark Waugh he likes to bet on the horses or dogs or whatever else is running around.

There is nothing wrong with wagering on a nag, but the image of a gambling, drinking, late-night man about town did not frame Don Bradman, Mark Taylor, Richie Benaud or Steve Waugh to name a few successful leaders.

To his credit he admitted after the "B&B" incident that perhaps he had a problem when too many beers were absorbed. He could have made excuses and pleaded passivity, but chose to publicly declare a personal flaw. This in itself was a sign of growth, of beckoning maturity. The selectors put a question mark next to the thick pencil.

In Australia there was considerable debate as to who would replace Steve Waugh as the one-day captain. Steve Waugh thought Steve Waugh should, the consensus screamed "Gilchrist", a mature, intelligent cricketer.

Shane Warne had done a fine job in a home series when Waugh was wounded, and was highly fancied. Ponting was a quiet third place in the pundits' minds.

Ponting's coach at Tasmania, Greg Shipperd, spoke highly of the new maturity and the genuine progress he had made in personal and team considerations. The selectors wiped the eraser across the fading ink and ordained the new Ponting as captain.

The wheel has turned a cycle of sorts since that time as his first tour of duty was in South Africa where he led Australia to a 6-1 result and has scarcely looked back. The World Cup back in Africa completed the first revolution of what looks to be a long journey.

Taylor was considered a brilliant captain, Waugh extended Taylor's record and seemed the guru, Ponting has a better record than both.

The selectors have chosen well. Ponting has just been named vice-captain of the Test team for the forthcoming West Indies tour, usurping Gilchrist. The omens are strong for his ascendency to the full throne whenever Steve Waugh calls it a day.

In an era when sportspeople are often cited as role models Ponting has evolved from the young buck causing frowns , to the solid citizen to be admired. A transition that less conspicuous beings make on a regular basis.

There is no particular trick to this, but none the less many do not make it and fall by the way. Ponting has succeeded spectacularly.