LONDON: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting will retire from all cricket after playing in the Champions League in October, he said yesterday.
Ponting, 38, who announced his retirement from international cricket in November last year, is currently playing for English county Surrey.
He will end his glittering career after featuring for the Mumbai Indians, his Indian Premier League franchise, in the Champions League.
“While I’m enjoying my cricket as much as ever, it just feels like the right time to finish playing,” Ponting told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, for whom he will write a regular column during the forthcoming England vs Australia Ashes Test series.
“My body and mind are in great shape and I know I’m going to really enjoy these last few months before the next stage of life begins.”
Ponting scored 13,378 runs in 168 Tests - the second highest haul in the long history of the game.
He stood down from the captaincy in 2011 and retired from one-day cricket in February 2012 before calling time on his Test career nearly seven months ago.
Since then he has carried on playing, helping Tasmania win the Sheffield Shield in March.
He will continue playing for Surrey until late July before heading to compete in the inaugural Caribbean Premier League with Antigua Hawksbills and then finishing off in the Champions League. reuters
