Ricky Ponting Sri Lanka won by six wickets. The defeat consequently eliminated Australia from the tournament. In Australia's two drawn warm-up matches ahead of the 2009 Ashes, Ponting struggled to adjust to the English conditions, somewhat, with a highest score of 71. Nevertheless, he started the Ashes series strongly, scoring 150 in the First Test in Cardiff. In his 38th hundred and eighth in an Ashes series, the Australian number three batsman became just the fourth man to score 11,000 runs in Test cricket. The match ended in a draw and Ponting drew criticism for failing to bowl fast-bowler Ben Hilfenhaus while
Ricky Ponting Ponting captained a Northern Territory XI against the West Indies in the lead-up to the upcoming series. Though not known for extravagant claims, Steve Waugh told a journalist that Ponting could easily be the best batsman in the world, and put him alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. When Jamie Cox was selected for Australia A, Ponting was selected as captain of Tasmania for a domestic one-dayer against Victoria in December. His men won by nine wickets, with Ponting scoring an unbeaten 64 from 69 balls. Australia white-washed the West Indies 5–0 in the Test series; Ponting scored a modest