Ricky Ponting announces retirement, official

[vamos_rafa]

The gesture for Ponting at the WACA Ground was a tear-jerker and on social media sent the popularity of the Proteas' captain of Graeme Smith sky-rocketing. South Africa's champion all-rounder, Jacques Kallis, was also all class, declining to celebrate as he closed Ponting's Test career with a catch in the slips, and then rushing to shake Ponting's hand, with hat removed. The sports broadcaster Andy Maher summed up the reaction as well as anyone. He tweeted: ''Rarely met a decent South African during my backpacking years, but Graeme Smith and his mob might convince me they're a quality lot.'' Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/winners-in-every-sense-guard-of-honour-for-ponting-has-tourists-getting-three-cheers-20121203-2ar7z.html#ixzz2E3BtxhAH :sniffle:

It was similar to Sachin catching Steve Waugh to end his career and then running all the way to congratulate him was not it?

[vamos_rafa]

It's very difficult to hate this SA team' date=' isn't it?[/quote'] I think they have learnt from the mistakes. When they beat the sides before, they would make all sorts of noises but now they are more humble. Maybe Kirsten's had a role there.

[ravishingravi]

I think they have learnt from the mistakes. When they beat the sides before' date=' they would make all sorts of noises but now they are more humble. Maybe Kirsten's had a role there.[/quote'] It comes from knowing you are the best. You don't have to say lot after that.

[Old guy]

It's very difficult to hate this SA team' date=' isn't it?[/quote'] :proud:

[Crookbond]

The gesture for Ponting at the WACA Ground was a tear-jerker and on social media sent the popularity of the Proteas' captain of Graeme Smith sky-rocketing. South Africa's champion all-rounder, Jacques Kallis, was also all class, declining to celebrate as he closed Ponting's Test career with a catch in the slips, and then rushing to shake Ponting's hand, with hat removed. The sports broadcaster Andy Maher summed up the reaction as well as anyone. He tweeted: ''Rarely met a decent South African during my backpacking years, but Graeme Smith and his mob might convince me they're a quality lot.'' Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/winners-in-every-sense-guard-of-honour-for-ponting-has-tourists-getting-three-cheers-20121203-2ar7z.html#ixzz2E3BtxhAH :sniffle:

It was similar to Sachin catching Steve Waugh to end his career and then running all the way to congratulate him was not it?

:agree:

[ravishingravi]

Lost his nerve after sucking for five years straight. I guffawed out loud (GOL) when I read how he precisely quoted Kallis' test average during the farewell presser. It's clear he wasn't nudged by his selectors or the captain - the thought of his average going south of 50 perhaps unnerved our "hard man". And what's with Indian fans on Cricinfo commenting on Ponting's retirement? It invariably goes like, "I am an Indian but...". GOL.

Yup, hate that.

[Crookbond]

Yup' date=' hate that.[/quote'] Just curious - what's wrong in that?

[ravishingravi]

Just curious - what's wrong in that?

Well I dont think it is a qualification required. It almost assumes that Indians are not expected or supposed to be a certain way or like certain thing

[Crookbond]

Well I dont think it is a qualification required. It almost assumes that Indians are not expected or supposed to be a certain way or like certain thing

I thought you had a problem with Indian's commenting on Ponting's requirement - now I understand better. In any case, it's another case of stereotypes I guess.

[Trichromatic]

^ It's a very common way of writing comments on social media.

[vvvslaxman]

I thought you had a problem with Indian's commenting on Ponting's requirement - now I understand better. In any case' date=' it's another case of stereotypes I guess.[/quote'] That is to imply that they are "impartial"

[Harsh Thakor]

How great was Ricky Ponting? Ricky Ponting has just retired from International cricket.Without doubt he was one of the greatest batsman ever,a great match-winner and an outstanding player of pace bowling.In his peak,he was the best batsman in the world who looked the most likely candidate to eclipse Sachin Tendulkar.To me he was the best batsman against genuine pace bowling in his era. Overall amongst Australian batsman I place him only behind Don Bradman and Greg Chappell and amongst the all time great batsman at bout 11th or 12 th place.,at par with Rahul Dravid..At one down position he would be just below Don Bradman ,Walter Hammond and Viv Richards.At his best in his career he was even ahead of Lara and Tendulkar.As a pure match-winner he would rank amongst the top 5 batsman of all.Ponting played more like Viv Richards than any batsman of his time with his mastery over the hook and pull shots. To me his best innings in tests were against South Africa in his 100 th test in 2006 when he scored 2 centuries in a single test and at Old Trafford when he saved his team with his knock of 156. I rate Greg Chappel better because he faced superior opposition,particularly in Packer cricket and still conquered great West Indian bowling.Viv Richards is ahead because he faced better bowling and was more destructive.Dravid is on par beacuse he was magnificient in batting for your life. As a match-winner Ponting overshadowed Tendulkar and Lara and joined the likes of Viv Richards and Adam Gilchrist.What was remarkable about Ponting is that he never curbed his strokeplay,even in a crisis.Above all,he batted in his team's interest more than even Tendulkar or Lara.However Ponting did not posess the artistry and creative genius of Brian Lara or the technique and consistency of SAchin Tendulkar.Nor did he bear the brunt of a weak team or faced the s ame pressure as those 2 giants. Amazing statistics of Ponting compiled from cricinfo . Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 won match 1995-2012 108 178 24 9157 257 59.46 15240 60.08 30 42 8 1026 53 view innings lost match 1996-2012 31 62 0 2036 242 32.83 3581 56.85 4 12 8 248 12 view innings drawn match 1997-2012 29 47 5 2185 157* 52.02 3961 55.16 7 8 1 235 8 view innings Imagine winning 108 test matches,and scoring 9157 runs out of 13,378 in winning causes ,with 30 centuries. The golden years During that eight-year period between 1999 and 2006, Ponting averaged 50 or more against all opposition except Sri Lanka, against whom he averaged 47.09 in seven Tests. He was especially unstoppable at home, averaging 73.76 from 47 Tests. He wasn't quite as prolific overseas, but still averaged an outstanding 56.55 in 40 matches. The only blot during that period - as indeed over his entire career - was his record in India: in seven Test innings there, he scored 40 runs at 5.71; over his entire career, he averaged 26.48 in Tests in India, with one century in 25 innings. Harbhajan Singh was his tormentor on most of those occasions, getting him out ten times, the most occasions any bowler dismissed him. He averaged more than 40 in all other countries in which he played more than one Test. Highest Test averages between Jan 1999 and Dec 2006 (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s Ricky Ponting 87 8114 65.43 31/ 29 Jacques Kallis 81 7053 62.41 22/ 35 Rahul Dravid 82 7265 59.54 21/ 31 Mohammad Yousuf 66 5954 58.37 22/ 22 Inzamam-ul-Haq 65 5455 56.23 19/ 24 Matthew Hayden 81 7422 55.80 26/ 27 Sachin Tendulkar 71 5837 55.06 18/ 23 Brian Lara 74 7212 54.63 24/ 23 Steve Waugh 58 3818 52.30 15/ 11 Gary Kirsten 53 4197 51.18 14/ 17 One of the best at No. 3 Through most of the 17 years Ponting played international cricket, he owned the No. 3 spot. In all international cricket, he scored 22,869 runs from that position, which is easily the highest; the second-best is Sangakkara's 16,324. Ponting's 61 international hundreds at that position is 25 more than the next-best. Breaking up those numbers format-wise, Ponting missed out on 10,000 Test runs at No. 3 by only 96, and though he currently has the most Test hundreds, Sangakkara is only three behind and will probably overhaul that mark pretty soon. In ODIs, Ponting is easily the most prolific No. 3 batsman with 12,662 runs, almost 5000 more than the next-best (Kallis' 7759). His 29 ODI hundreds at No. 3 is more than twice that of any other batsman at that position (Kallis has 13). Highest run-getters in Tests at No. 3 Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s Rahul Dravid 219 10,524 52.88 28/ 50 Ricky Ponting 196 9904 56.27 32/ 43 Kumar Sangakkara 169 9222 59.11 29/ 37 Don Bradman 56 5078 103.63 20/ 10 Hashim Amla 95 4734 55.04 16/ 22 Richie Richardson 107 4711 47.11 14/ 21 Rohan Kanhai 90 4689 52.68 13/ 20 David Boon 111 4412 45.48 13/ 20 Most runs scored at No. 3 in ODIs How Ponting was ranked by Anantha Narayan in cricinfo blogs The best Test batsmen: 1960-2009 His match performances are better than Tendulkar, Gavaskar,Border and Greg Chappell at 21.54 with Gavaskar at 20.52,Border at 18.38 and Chappell at 20.21.Match performances include Match Performances: The following factors are considered. Base for calculation will be Runs scored. Other factors are explained below. Each of these is a multiplicative parameter, ranging either side of 1.00. For certain parameters such as result, home/away, runs added with late order et al, there would not be a below 1.00 value. 1. Pitch type. 2. Quality of bowling - weighted by actual balls bowled by each bowler. 3. Position at batsman entry (5 for 1, 100 for 2, 24 for 3, 325 for 4 et al). 4. Runs added with late order batsmen (no. 8 onwards). 5. Innings type (1/2/3/4, Score faced, Target et al). 6. Match result, taking into consideration relative team strengths. 7. Match location (Home/Away). 8. Match importance (Series status). The best Test batsmen: 1960-2009 No. Cty Batsman Ratio Total Match Bat Runs Cons %-TS R-Factor Pts Perf Avge Pts Idx Pts 1. Win Lara B.C 1.44 50.26 (22.63 10.43 11.93 3.37 1.90) 2. Ind Tendulkar S.R 1.41 49.24 (20.44 10.69 12.85 3.70 1.55) 3. Aus Ponting R.T 1.38 48.24 (21.54 10.85 10.88 3.54 1.44) 4. Ind Dravid R 1.31 45.98 (19.93 10.11 10.92 3.50 1.51) 5. Ind Gavaskar S.M 1.31 45.83 (20.52 10.02 10.12 3.49 1.67) 6. Saf Kallis J.H 1.30 45.65 (19.92 10.56 10.23 3.43 1.51) 7. Win Richards I.V.A 1.28 44.97 (21.81 9.90 8.65 3.11 1.50) 8. Aus Border A.R 1.28 44.83 (18.38 10.07 11.16 3.79 1.44) 9. Aus Waugh S.R 1.27 44.52 (18.35 10.12 10.90 3.86 1.28) 10. Slk Sangakkara K.C 1.26 43.98 (22.20 10.33 6.73 3.12 1.61) The best Test batsmen of all time No.Cty Batsman Mat Total Rating Match BatAvg Runs BatSR %-TS Max Pts Pts Perf Pts Pts Pts Pts Pts 1.Aus Bradman D.G 52 (71.27) 79.19 40.02 19.35 6.91 .... 4.99 90.00 2.Win Lara B.C 131 (58.44) 59.40 27.31 10.43 11.93 4.98 3.79 98.38 3.Ind Tendulkar S.R 159 (53.68) 54.59 22.43 10.69 12.85 4.60 3.11 98.33 4.Aus Ponting R.T 131 (54.46) 54.46 23.95 10.85 10.88 5.91 2.87 100.00 5.Eng Hobbs J.B 61 (48.53) 53.93 27.07 12.34 5.49 .... 3.64 90.00 6.Win Sobers G.St.A 93 (48.14) 53.49 25.48 11.48 8.03 .... 3.16 90.00 7.Eng Hutton L 79 (47.78) 53.09 25.85 11.35 6.93 .... 3.66 90.00 8.Ind Gavaskar S.M 125 (47.40) 52.51 23.81 10.02 10.12 0.11 3.35 90.28 9.Win Headley G.A 22 (46.98) 52.20 28.48 12.00 2.18 .... 4.32 90.00 10.Ind Dravid R 134 (51.80) 51.80 23.58 10.11 10.92 4.17 3.02 100.00