Ricky Ponting      

Acclaimed by Academy coach Rod Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ricky Ponting began with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and was given out unluckily for 96 on his Test debut. He was and remains the archetypal modern cricketer: he plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat and knows only to attack, and his breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. A gambler and a buccaneer, he is a natural at one-day cricket and is learning quickly in Twenty20. He has had his setbacks, against probing seam attacks and high-class finger-spin, which, when out of form, he plays with hard hands. In the 1990s there were off-field indiscretions that led him once to admit publicly to an alcohol problem, but he overcame the issues and became part of the heartbeat of one of Australia's most successful teams. After the retirement of Ian Healy he took over as the man who led the singing of the victory song, passing it on when he assumed the captaincy.

With many lessons learned, Ponting's growing maturity was acknowledged by the ACB when he saw off competition from Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist to succeed Steve Waugh as Australia's one-day leader early in 2002. It was a seamless transition: Ponting led the successful 2003 World Cup campaign from the front, clouting 140 not out in the final, and acceded to the Test crown when Waugh finally stepped down early in 2004. A broken thumb suffered in the Champions Trophy in England forced him to watch Gilchrist lead Australia's first series victory in India for 35 years from the dressing room. Batting-wise his first year as captain was one to forget, but he began his second with 207 against Pakistan, joining Don Bradman and Greg Chappell as the only Australians to reach four double-centuries.

By the time the eagerly-awaited 2005 Ashes got underway the cracks in an almost invincible Australian side were beginning to appear. A humiliating one-day loss to Bangladesh caused the first ripple of dissent against his leadership style, and it grew as the contest progressed. A heroic 156 saved the Old Trafford Test, but on September 12, 2005, Ponting became the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series. The result hurt and the pain lingered throughout the next summer, but he regrouped and reglued to start an amazing streak of 20 wins in 21 Tests, including the 5-0 demolition of England to regain the urn in the most emphatic way. Ponting was Man of the Series as Australia became the first team in 86 years to achieve an Ashes cleansweep and his 576 runs at 82.28 confirmed him as the game's modern master. The summer was tarnished slightly when England handed Australia their first tri-series finals loss for 14 years (India beat them in the final version of the tournament the following year), but he soon ensured a third consecutive World Cup win and his second as an undefeated captain.

Waugh believes his successor will hold the game's run-scoring record when he retires, but he is starting to run out of time to overtake Sachin Tendulkar. The world's leading strokeplayer, Ponting finished 2005 with 1544 runs and posted twin hundreds three times in five months, joining Sunil Gavaskar as the only other man to achieve the feat, and the double effort in his 100th Test at the SCG was magnificent. He followed up with another 1333 runs in 2006 and owns more centuries than anyone but Tendulkar. Ponting slid back to mere mortal status through 2007, when he went 13 months without a Test century, but his comeback effort of 140 against India in Adelaide was the perfect way for him to sign off from a stressful and controversial summer. More frowns arrived in 2008-09 as his side lost Test series to India and South Africa, threatening their No. 1 status, but following some regeneration they hit back in South Africa to show signs of recovery. Ponting's season was quiet - his tally of 861 at 39.13 was boosted by a first century in India - and he carried a heavier load in an outfit that will determine his ultimate leadership rating.
Cricinfo staff