Ricky Ponting and the Australian captain ended the series with 264 runs at 37.71. While below his career standards, it was substantially better than his previous Test efforts in India. Fined in India for a slow over rate, Ponting failed to redress the matter during the subsequent home series against New Zealand, when match referee Chris Broad dealt a second successive fine for being three overs behind in the First Test: Ponting was stripped of thirty per cent of his A$12,750 match fee, twice the punishment of his teammates in accordance with International Cricket Council rules for captains. Australia were largely untroubled
Ricky Ponting Ponting would be more effective against England's pace-oriented bowling attack. However, Ponting struggled in the first three Tests, scoring 47 runs at 11.75, and Lehmann regained his spot for the last two matches. He had played 22 Tests by the end of 1998, with 1,209 runs at an average of 36.63. Ponting was a permanent fixture in the ODI team throughout this period, and scored 322 runs at 46.00 during the Carlton & United (CUB series) series of 1998–99. During the CUB series, Ponting was involved in a fight outside a pub in Kings Cross, New South Wales, and earned