Ricky Ponting 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. 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
Ricky Ponting Ponting resigned his position as captain at both Test and ODI levels, endorsed Michael Clarke as his successor, and indicated his intention to continue playing. In 2011, Ponting was inducted into Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) 'Best of the Best'. He was selected in Michael Clarke's teams for the tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa in 2011, scoring an important half-century (62) in the fourth innings of the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, helping Australia chase down a target of 310 to draw the series 1–1. In the 2011–12 Australian summer, a disappointing series draw with New