England carried on from their famous win with a commanding performance at Old Trafford. England needed 10 wickets in the day to lead the series. England cricket fans flooded to the ground, amazingly close to 20,000 people were left locked out of the ground that day as the ground was full by 10am. The country was gripped by ‘Ashes fever’. Luckily me and a group of friends managed to get into the ground that day. We witnessed a true batting master class from the genius Ricky Ponting that day. He kept calm and battled on while all those around him stuttered. England took regular wickets throughout the day and it became increasingly evident that Ponting was the man that England needed out if they were to win the game. Ponting however wasn’t so easy to remove. He racked up an amazing 156 runs and batted for a mammoth 411 minutes. Eventually Ponting’s long vigil at the crease was ended. He was distraught, his beloved Australia were 9 wickets down and facing the likelihood of going behind in the Ashes series. He left the field to a standing ovation from the English crowd, a sign of respect for a great of the game who had just played one of his best innings. Australia managed to hang on to draw the game and the series remained level.
Unfortunately for Ponting his team lost the series 2-1 and he became the first captain since 1987to lose an Ashes series. He was slated in the Australian media. He faced relentless calls for him to resign has captain. Ponting however stood firm. He used the experience and pain he felt at losing to England to hatched a plan to regain the Ashes the next time the two sides met. The sides met again in November 2006 in Australia in the 2006/7 Ashes series. A determined Ponting led his troops by example in the first test at the Gabba, Brisbane. He scored 196 to set up a huge first innings score for Australia, one which proved too much for England. Australia went on to win the game and win the series 5-0. Ponting had his revenge and the success he craved so much. In the series Ponting led from the front, he won the man of the series award and amassed a massive 576 runs, scoring two centuries in doing so.
Following the Ashes series Australia went on to the Caribbean to compete in the 2007 World cup. They went to retain their crown and win their third World Cup in a row, one of the cup wins coming under Ponting’s captaincy. They went on to blitz all before them and win their third World cup trophy in a row. Unfortunately for Ponting the golden age of Australian cricketers was split up after the World cup. Before the 2009 Ashes series in England Ponting had the toughest job of his career to rebuild the great name of Australian cricket and replace the legends that had retired. The job proved too hard for him and his team and Ponting suffered a second Ashes defeat as captain and then went on to become Australia’s most unsuccessful Ashes captain ever with a third Ashes defeat to add to his CV. This time it was the most humiliating, his team was the first team to lose at home to England since 1987 in the 2010/11 Ashes series. Many see no shame in that as England have gone on to become the number one test match side in the World.
After the 2011 World cup in India Ponting’s World cup winning streak as captain came to an end, they were knocked out in the quarter finals to eventual winners India. On returning home Ponting resigned as Australian cricket captain, and handed the reigns over to Vice-captain Michael Clarke. Many thought this was the end of Ponting’s career as Australia have a habit of not picking ex captains once they have retired. Ponting was an exception on this occasion and the new captain Clarke picked Ponting in his team. Australian cricket is undergoing a transformation and Ponting is seen as a key to this transformation. The experiences he has had in cricket can help teach the next generation to go on and achieve greatness in their careers. Most recently Ponting has had to withstand calls for him to be dropped from the test team, again in champion fashion and at the age of 37 he hit back and scored a magnificent 100 against India in the 2012 New Year test at Sydney.
Ponting’s legacy in the game is unquestionable his achievements in the game are phenomenal. He holds numerous records in the game, most notably he’s the leading Australian test match run scorer, leading Australian one day International run scorer, he holds the record for most consecutive World cups wins as captain, he has a hat trick of World cup wins to his name and he’s the third leading run scorer in test matches ever. I could add countless achievements and successes he has had in Cricket to that list but they are the stand outs. I idolise Ricky Ponting and base the way I play cricket off his example, I like to play hard on the field and to win but off the field I always remain respectful to the opposition like Ponting. Ponting has bounced back from numerous low points in his career and is inspirational in the way he does it, no matter how severe the low is he always bounces back and proves people wrong. This is an example I use not only in cricket but in life in general.
