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
Ricky Ponting Australia since Allan Border in 1987. During the Fourth Test Ponting was involved in an on-field argument with umpires, and was fined 40% of his match fee, which accounted to around $5,400. Ponting missed the Fifth Test due to a finger injury, and Michael Clarke stood in as Australia's captain. Australia's heavy defeat in the series and Ponting's poor run of form caused his position in the team to be questioned. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh suggested dropping him down the batting order; others, such as former Australian batsman and South African captain Kepler Wessels, called for him to relinquish