Ricky Ponting Australian captain to lose the Ashes twice. Despite not being a selector, Ponting was heavily criticised for Australia not playing Hauritz and his apparent reluctance to put faith in his spinners. He was questioned, particularly on Australia's recent habit of often not playing a specialist/regular spinner. Instances of these were the first three Tests in India, the omission of Krejza for the First Test against New Zealand immediately after taking 12 wickets on debut, and opting for no spinner in the first two Tests in South Africa. On 7 September 2009, Ponting announced his retirement from Twenty20 international cricket in
Ricky Ponting Tasmanian to score a first-class century at 18 years and 40 days, eclipsing Boon's record of 19 years and 356 days. After scoring another half century, Ponting scored back to back centuries against Western Australia on Australia's fastest wicket in Perth. He became the youngest batsmen in Shield history to score twin centuries in a match. After setting a goal of scoring 500 runs in the season, he ended up scoring 781 at 48.81. After season's end, Ponting played seven four-day games for the Australian Academy, scoring 484 runs at 96.70, even though he was still only 18. Speculation ignited