There wasn’t a dry eye in the house on Thursday morning at the Australian team hotel when Ricky Ponting broke the news to teammates that he was retiring from Test cricket.
Ponting will play his 168th and final Test on Friday against South Africa in Perth – the same venue where he made his debut against Sri Lanka in December 1995.
Fittingly, Ponting’s final appearance will equal Steve Waugh’s mark for the most Tests by an Australian.
The former Australian captain said the decision was entirely his own and insisted he hadn’t been pushed out the door by selectors.
Ponting’s wife Rianna and two daughters Emmy and Mattise as well as Australian teammates, coach Mickey Arthur and chief selector John Inverarity were present in the WACA gym as the greatest Australian batsman since Don Bradman made his announcement public.
He held things together in front of the media, but the normally stoic Ponting said he was highly emotional when he talked to his teammates earlier in the day.
“I tried to say a lot but I didn’t get much out,” Ponting said.
“They’d never seen me emotional before, but I was this morning.”
Australian captain Michael Clarke followed Ponting into the press conference room to announce his 12-man squad for the third Test against South Africa.
Asked what the atmosphere was like in the room, when Ponting addressed his teammates, Clarke wasn’t able to finish his answer before breaking down in tears.
“No, I didn’t have the feeling it was coming,” Clarke said.
“Ricky spoke to me after the Adelaide Test match, and made his decision over the last little while.
“The boys are obviously hurting at the moment. He’s been an amazing player for a long time.”
Clarke then paused for more than 10 seconds and fighting back tears said: “And that’ll do me for today. Sorry, I can’t answer that.”
Ponting is the highest Australian run-scorer of all time – with 13,336 runs.
Only Indian Sachin Tendulkar has scored more runs and will have played in more Tests than Ponting.
Turning 38 next month, Ponting decided he could no longer contribute consistently enough for Australia, after a lean run which has netted just 20 runs from three innings this summer.
Ponting said he’d walk away knowing he’d given cricket everything he could.
“I know I have given cricket my all, it’s been my life for 20 years. There’s not much more I could give,” he said.
Ponting said his focus now had to be on the Perth Test, a match he says he’s determined to win.
If Australia clinch the series with victory in Perth, Ponting will bow out as part of the No.1 team in the world.
“This week I’ve got a big job ahead, I’ve got to lift my level of play from what it was last week,” Ponting said.
“(My low scores this series) wasn’t what I expected of myself.”
