Ricky Ponting pinned. Told to endure a 14-week lay-off, he never played competitive football again. During Tasmanian Sheffield Shield matches at the NTCA Ground (Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground), Ponting helped out with the scoreboard, thereby surrounding himself with international cricketers. After leaving school at the end of year 10 in 1990, he began work as a groundsman at Scotch Oakburn College, a private school in Launceston. In 1991 the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association sponsored Ponting to attend a fortnight's training at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide. The two weeks turned into a full two-year sponsorship as he was said to
Early life of Ricky Ponting with 781 runs at 48.81. But his form in List A games were not as strong, aggregating 99 at 33 in four matches. Still, Ponting hit an unbeaten 59 from 52 balls against a touring England A side in Hobart. After the season's end, still aged 18, Ponting played seven four-day games for the Australian Academy, scoring 484 runs at 96.70. Speculation ignited that Ponting was an outsider to be selected for the Australian squad on their 1993 tour to England. Of the speculation, Ponting said "At the start of the season I was wondering whether or not I'd play