SYDNEY: Australian captain Michael Clarke has paid tribute to the “amazing” Ricky Ponting after his former skipper announced his retirement from all forms of the game.
Ponting, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, announced on Thursday he would quit all professional cricket in October.
“He’s been an amazing player, there’s no doubt about it, and (he’s) done so much for the game of cricket,” Clarke said on the Cricket Australia website.
Ponting, 38, called time on his international career in December but has continued to play in several domestic competitions, including the English County Championship where he is currently appearing for Surrey.
His form has been sparkling with Ponting hitting 192 on his Surrey debut this month, after having been named the Australian domestic Sheffield Shield Player of the Year in March.
It sparked talk that he should be called out of international retirement to play the Ashes series in England, with Australia struggling after a series of disciplinary incidents and a poor ICC Champions Trophy campaign. But Clarke said he did not need Ponting back in the fold.
“He retired from the Australian cricket team. We’ve got a new team here and we are looking forward to this series.”
Ponting said the time would be right to walk away completely after he turns out for Mumbai in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in October.
“While I’m enjoying my cricket as much as ever, it just feels like the right time to finish playing,” he said on the Cricket Australia website.
Ponting played in, and later captained, strong Australia teams and his career total of 13,378 Test runs, in 168 matches with 41 hundreds, is second only to that of India great Sachin Tendulkar.
As captain, he won 48 off his 77 Tests in charge but also led Australia in three Ashes series defeats by England. He also appeared in 375 one-day internationals, scoring 30 hundreds. REUTERS
