Ponting, one of Australia’s greatest cricketers, will leave the game at the end of the Third Test against South Africa in Perth, starting tomorrow, saying he “is not good enough to go on” to the Ashes series he dreamt of making.
The former Australian captain broke down as he told his teammates the news before practice.
“I tried to say a lot but I didn’t get much out,” Ponting said. “They’d never seen me emotional before, but I was this morning.”
Most of the team cried with the former captain.
Ponting was asked what he had contributed to the game over the decades of his involvement.
“I know I have given cricket my all, it’s been my life for 20 years, there’s not much more I could give,” he said.
There was talk during the week that selectors had argued about Ponting’s future in the game, but the players said yesterday he knew he had the full support of coach Mickey Arthur and captain Michael Clarke.
Ponting’s wife Rianna and two daughters Emmy and Mattise along with manager James Henderson were on hand for the announcement.
“That’s my new team there,” Ponting said indicating toward his family.
The dry-eyed skipper read from a small piece of paper with notes on it then took questions, his teammates gathered grim faced at the back of the room.
Clarke looked emotional as his former skipper left the room with his family and he took the chair to speak about the Test ahead.
He then broke down and cried when asked what Ponting had said to the team.
Ponting said he began to think about retirement at the end of the Adelaide Test and had many long nights discussing it with his wife.
He was in good spirits in the nets at Perth this morning preparing for the Test ahead which he says he is more determined to win than any in his life.
If Australia beat South Africa in Perth they will win the series and become the number one ranked side in the world.
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“This week I’ve got a big job ahead, I’ve got to lift my level of play from what it was last week,” he said.
Ponting said he was disappointed with his results in this series.
“It wasn’t what I expected of myself,” he said.
Ponting will equal Steve Waugh’s record of 168 Tests in Perth - only Sachin Tendulkar has played more.
The Australian scored 13,366 Test runs - again second to Tendulkar - including 41 centuries, 52 50s and averaged 52.
He played 375 one-day matches, scoring 13,704 runs, scoring 30 centuries, 82 50s with a highest score of 164 and an average of 42.
Ponting said he would continue to play domestic cricket for Tasmania for the rest of the season. Never a sentimentalist he is retiring ahead of a home Test.
Julia Gillard said she wished the former Australian captain well for whatever he chose to do in his future.
“He can be confident that he is going to go into the next phase of his life with a lot of gratitude and thanks from the Australian community which is full of cricket tragics,” the Prime Minister told parliament.
''People are going to miss watching his performances but do wish him well for whatever the future brings.”
Tony Abbott said Ponting was “undoubtedly one of the all-time greats of one of the very great games” who had “given tremendous pleasure to cricket lovers around the world”.
Former Aussie Test batsman Michael Slater, one of Ponting’s former teammates, also paid tribute.
“Just heard the news about Ricky’s retirement … glad he gets to go on his own terms,” he wrote on Twitter. “Looking forward to a double ton tomorrow!”
Even the British were doffing their hat to “Punter”.
BBC foreign correspondent Nick Bryant wrote: “Propose a brief halt to Anglo-Australian cricketing hostilities to celebrate the career of Ricky Ponting. “Truly one of the greats.”
Source: Ricky Ponting Retires
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