Former Australian Test and one-day cricket captain Ricky Ponting has
announced he will retire from all forms of the game in October.
Ponting retired from international cricket after the Perth Test against
South Africa last December, but continued playing with his state side
Tasmania, IPL club the Mumbai Indians and Surrey in English cricket.
The 38-year-old says he will stop playing altogether after 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 told reporters in England. 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."
He says winning the Sheffield Shield with Tasmania last summer was the perfect way to farewell Australian fans.
"It's one of a lifetime of memories that will become even more special
to me in retirement," he said. I'm so grateful for the opportunities
that the game of cricket has given to me."
Ponting retires as the second highest run scorer in Test history, with
13,378 runs in 168 matches over 17 years of international cricket.
Australian captain Michael Clarke has praised his predecessor.
"He's been an amazing player, there's no doubt about it, and [he's] done so much for the game of cricket," he said.
Tasmanian Cricket Association chief, David Johnstone, says it is a big loss to the sport.
"He was the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year last year so obviously
he's still in very, very, good form at that level of cricket," he said.
"He's going to be a considerable loss from a point as a batsman, but
also he'll be a loss around the team mentoring young players and giving
his knowledge to the rest of the team. We would have loved him to play
in all forms of the game for Tasmania. Obviously he's got other options
in his career and moving in a different direction."
A childhood mentor and family friend Mick Sellars says Ponting had
enormous talent from a very young age. He remembers Ponting padding up
for Mowbray when he was nine or 10.
"He was only a short little fella. We always knew he had ability as soon
as the first day he got to training," he said. "Under-13's he played
the first five innings, he got five hundreds and he had an average 120
for the week."
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