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 A, who were pepped up and firing. Of course it gave the Australia A guys a chance to break into the Australian team, but to me the focus of the summer was on beating the Poms [England] in the Tests and winning the World Series, not beating our own Australian mates." Despite the negative feedback, the concept gave Ponting a chance on the international stage, and he scored 161 runs at 26.83 with one half-century.<ref name="World Series Cup in Aust. Dec 1994/Jan 1995 - Batting Averages"> </ref> Two weeks after the World Series, Ponting was selected in the squad for