Ricky Ponting to retire after Perth Test

frankrizzo

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#26
I assume the selectors basically gave him the tap, this is a good thing really he wasn't going to make runs in england the way he was playing and this way he gets the farewell he deserves and a young bat gets the sri lankan series to try and make a name for themselves before england.
 

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#30
A bit like Tim Cahill towards the end of his Everton career, a legend who is past his best but I still didn't want to see him go.

Congrats on a great career Punter, so many great memories of him playing for Australia that I will cherish.

Also wished he could play one more test in Hobart so he could finish off at his home state and have the record.
 

Warsaw

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#31
Onya punter. Go out on your own terms you deserve that and more. Marvellous career, now hit those saffers for a ton and finish with style
 

JimDocker

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#34
One of the greatest players ever.

He has handled the "demotion" to batsman rather than captain with a lot of class.

I attended a breakfast yesterday morning where he was one of the speakers and he spoke with great admiration about what Michael Clarke has achieved since taking over the captaincy.

I hope he has one great innings left in him.
 

legend166

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#35
Hung on for too long, but a fantastic career. In his prime, probably the best batsman since Bradman, but the last few years would knock his overall career down the rankings a bit.

From 1st Jan 2002 to the 1st of Jan 2008 (his prime), these were his stats:

61 tests, 6333 runs, 24 hundreds, average of 70.34.

Doubt anyone of his contemporaries gets close to that.
 
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#36
Hung on for too long, but a fantastic career. In his prime, probably the best batsman since Bradman, but the last few years would knock his overall career down the rankings a bit.
History doesn't care about the final years, they care about the prime. That's why Lara is remembered as an absolute great. It was Lara, and then Tendulka and Ponting for so long in the last decade, and that's how history will see it. Rightfully so. Very few could match Ponting in his prime.
 

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Super Hans

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#37
What are everyones favourite punter innings?

The one day knock against South Africa was awesome.
 

Vedder

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#39
Yeh his odi knock in the WC final was up definitely up there for pure entertainment, there were so many

Sad to see him go but has been pleasure to watch this guy, awesome bat, filled the hole left by Boony for us Tasmanians, a legend!
 

Magma

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#42
it's been a pleasure ricky. one of the best players when in full flight. a shame about the last couple of years, but **** that noise. man in his prime was an absolute champion, and always will be remembered by me and so many others as a champion.
 

King Elvis

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#43
I loved our team over the 2000s, he was probably my favourite out of all of them.

Very, very sad to see him go; I wanted him to play out the Summer, score some runs and finish on a good note.

Absolute champion. Love him.

Fitting that the last link to our period of dominance was one of the most important.
 

legend166

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#44
History doesn't care about the final years, they care about the prime. That's why Lara is remembered as an absolute great. It was Lara, and then Tendulka and Ponting for so long in the last decade, and that's how history will see it. Rightfully so. Very few could match Ponting in his prime.
Nah, history cares when the final few years knock 5-6 runs off your average. When people look back at this period, he's not going to get held above his peers (Kallis, Tendulkar, Dravid, etc).
 
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#45
He and Gilchrist were my summer heroes when I was growing up. As long as Punter was batting, the whole household would stop and marvel at his crisp pulls and majestic drives. One of the greats of Australian, if not world cricket. Although he wasn't the best captain, he was an example for all of my generation oh how to make sure you were successful with the talent that you've got. Your enthusiasm and athleticism in the field will be missed, you beautiful hairy Tasmanian champion. Congrats on an amazing career.
 

King Elvis

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#46
At his peak, you basically expected a 50, minimum, every time he went out to bat.

He was insanely good; Tendulkar is probably the better over their full careers, but that period of dominance Ponting had, shaded them.
 

DaRick

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#49
Whatever controversies he's been embroiled in over the years, at the end of the day you cannot deny that the man is a legend and one of Australia's finest ever batsmen.

There are just too many wonderful knocks to pick from - some have already been mentioned here, but I think his twin tons in his 100th Test, which made a mockery of Graeme Smith's declaration, deserve mention. Even in his twilight years, he was capable of grinding out a double ton.

Even his captaincy was somewhat underrated - his ODI record has always been stellar while even at Test level, he seemed to have a plan B. I suspect the main reason why he appeared overly defensive towards the end of his captaincy reign is because of the unreliable bowlers he was saddled with - Johnson in particular.

Nobody here has mentioned his fielding, which was absolutely brilliant in his prime - even at the end, it was very good.

With all that being said, I believe it was a good time for him to retire. He could never capture the magic of his prime and his unselfish decision allows us to blood someone in his place for the 2013 Ashes.
 
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