Ricky Thomas Ponting,

Ricky Thomas Ponting, (born 19 December 1974), nicknamed Punter, is a former Australian cricketer, and two World Cup winning captain in 2003 and 2007. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen and captains in the history of cricket, Ponting was captain of the Australia national cricket team during its 'golden era'; between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. 

He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very occasional bowler. Ponting holds the record of being the only cricketer in the history of Test cricket to be a part of 100 Test match wins. 

He was named "Cricketer decade of the 2000". He led Australia to victory at the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and was also a member of the 1999 World Cup winning team under Steve Waugh.

He represented the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket, the Hobart Hurricanes in Australia's domestic T20 competition the Big Bash League, and played in the Indian Premier League with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008. He is widely considered by many to be one of the best batsmen of the modern era, alongside Sachin Tendulkar of India and Brian Lara of the West Indies. On 1 December 2006, he reached the highest rating achieved by a Test batsman in the last 50 years.

Ricky Ponting

Personal information
Full name	Ricky Thomas Ponting
Born	19 December 1974 (age 42) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia[1]
Nickname	Punter
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Right arm medium
Role	Batsman
Relations	Greg Campbell (uncle)
International information
National side	Australia (1995-2012)
Test debut (cap 366)	8 December 1995 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	3 December 2012 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 123)	15 February 1995 v South Africa
Last ODI	19 February 2012 v India
ODI shirt no.	14 (was 9 in 1996)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1992–2013	Tasmania
2004	Somerset
2008	Kolkata Knight Riders
2011–2013	Hobart Hurricanes
2013	Mumbai Indians
2013	Surrey
2013	Antigua Hawksbills
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 168 375 289 456 Runs scored 13,378 13,704 24,150 16,363 Batting average 51.85 42.03 55.90 41.74 100s/50s 41/62 30/82 82/106 34/99 Top score 257 164 257 164 Balls bowled 575 150 1,506 349 Wickets 5 3 14 8 Bowling average 54.60 34.66 58.07 33.62 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 n/a 0 n/a Best bowling 1/0 1/12 2/10 3/34 Catches/stumpings 195/– 160/– 309/– 195/–

Ponting made his first-class debut for Tasmania in November 1992, when just 17 years and 337 days old, becoming the youngest Tasmanian to play in a Sheffield Shield match. However, he had to wait until 1995 before making his One Day International (ODI) debut, during a quadrangular tournament in New Zealand in a match against South Africa. His Test debut followed shortly after, when selected for the first Test of the 1995 home series against Sri Lanka in Perth, in which he scored 96. He lost his place in the national team several times in the period before early-1999, due to lack of form and discipline, before becoming One Day International captain in early-2002 and Test captain in early 2004.

After being involved in over 160 Tests and 370 ODIs, Ponting is Australia's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket. He is one of only four players (along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis) in history to have scored 13,000 Test runs. Statistically, he is one of the most successful captains of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests between 2004 and 31 December 2010. As a player, Ponting is the only cricketer in history to be involved in 100 Test victories.Ponting also holds the record to have been involved in the most ODI victories as a player, with 262 wins.

On 29 November 2012 Ponting announced his retirement from Test cricket, the day before he would play in the Perth Test against South Africa. This was his 168th and last Test appearance,equalling the Australian record held by Steve Waugh.

Ponting retired on 3 December 2012 with a Test batting average of 51.85.He continued to play cricket around the world. In February 2013 it was announced that he would be captaining the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League and in March 2013 he was announced as the first international franchise player for the Caribbean Premier League. Later that month it was revealed by Ponting that this would be his last season playing cricket, as at the end of the competition he would be retiring from all forms of the game.

 After marrying his long-time girlfriend, law student Rianna Jennifer Cantor, in June 2002, Ponting credited her as the reason for his increased maturity.Their daughter Emmy Charlotte was born in Sydney on 26 July 2008.Second daughter Matisse Ellie was born in Sydney on 8 September 2011.Third child, and first son, Fletcher William was born in Melbourne on 24 September 2014.