Ricky Ponting Shaun Young. It also included five future Test batsmen: Matthew Hayden, Matthew Elliott, Martin Love, Justin Langer and Stuart Law. Despite not batting as well as he "would have liked", Ponting returned to Australia with the fourth highest batting average—48.73. Tasmania toured Zimbabwe for five games ahead of the 1995–96 Sheffield Shield. Ponting struggled, aggregating 99 runs at a modest 24.75. By the end of October, he had signed a contract with the Australian Cricket Board, along with 22 other Australian cricketers. He opened the batting with Boon in Tasmania's first match of the Sheffield Shield season, scoring 20 and
Ricky Ponting Waugh was a somewhat surprising omission, despite being unable to force his way back into the ODI team since being dropped after team disappointment in the 2001–02 VB Series. Ponting scored a slow 18 from 30 deliveries in Australia's victory in the opening match of the 2002–03 VB series against England in Sydney. He proceeded to score 119 from 123 balls (nine fours and three sixes) in Australia's second match of the series—again against England, this time at the MCG—sharing an all wicket record Australian ODI partnership of 225 with Adam Gilchrist in the process. Despite a comfortable Australian victory,