Ricky Ponting Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting, AO (born 19 December 1974), is an Australian former international cricketer, and two-time World Cup winning captain in 2003 and 2007, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its 'golden era'; between 2004 and 2011 in Tests and 2002 and 2011 in One Day Internationals (ODIs). He is a specialist right-handed batsman, an excellent slip / close catching fielder, as well as a very occasional bowler. He was named "Cricketer of the decade 2000". He led Australia to victory at the 2003
Ricky Ponting ended the series in style, scoring 105 and 86 not out in the Third Test win in New Zealand. In his first Test series in the country, he scored 293 runs at 97.66. Australia lost to England 2–1 after starting the series as favourites. Ponting thus became the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986–87 to lose an Ashes series. The 2005 series was hailed as one of the great Test series, but Ponting faced significant criticism afterwards and his tenure as captain was questioned. In his defence, Ponting said that Australia had simply been outplayed and had not