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 being himself I'm sure he'll cope well with all the success that I imagine he will achieve." The selectors eventually chose Western Australian batsman Damien Martyn for the tour, with Ponting selected in the Academy squad captained by Justin Langer, which toured India and Sri Lanka for seven games in August and September in 1993. Australian success was limited, with only a few wins. No batsman scored a century, but Ponting reached 99 not out in a one-day game in Colombo. He finished the tour second highest in the run-scorers behind Langer. Before the start of the 1993–94 Sheffield Shield