Punter quits

[Gob]

A shame, a great player and good captain in his day. Sadly those days are long gone.

Ricky Ponting has announced his retirement from Test cricket.



Ponting said the Perth Test will be the final of his career.

"This Test match will be my last," Ponting told a press conference on Thursday.

After making his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Perth, Ricky Ponting smashes a six during day two of the second Test of the series in Melbourne in December 1995. Photo: Vince Caligiuri

‘‘Over the last couple of weeks my level of performance hasn’t been good enough,’’ he said.

‘‘My passion and love for the game hasn’t changed.

"At the end of the day (the decision) was based on my results.

‘‘In this series so far they have not been up to the level required of batsmen and players in the Australian team.

‘‘I’m glad I have got the opportunity to finish on my terms.’’

Ponting said he would in no way be distracted for the series-deciding Test against South Africa where the world No.1 ranking is up for grabs.

‘‘I want this win more than any other game I have played in.’’

Ponting will equal Steve Waugh’s mark of 168 Test matches in this match, the most in the history of Australian cricket.

The entire Australian squad turned up for the press conference on Thursday in Perth where Ponting made his announcement.

Australian captain Michael Clarke broke down in tears as he spoke of Ponting.

Turning 38 next month, Ponting is the highest Australian run-scorer of all time and has been described as the greatest Australian batsman outside Sir Donald Bradman.

The Tasmanian has 13,336 Test runs to his name, only Indian Sachin Tendulkar has scored more in the history of cricket.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/pon ... z2Da5EDlPS

[The Hen]

Glad he called it. Better than non-selection.

[MajGenl.Meade]

the greatest Australian batsman outside Sir Donald Bradman

I suppose the greatest batsman inside Sir Donald Bradman would be . . er. . . Sir Donald Bradman unless there's some history there we've not heard of.

But on a more serious note, I really do like the Australian cricket team caps. Somehow they've always seemed to present a flatter and more interesting shape than others that I've seen. A bit of flat-cappedness of distinction.

Ponting was a good 'un all right.

Meade

[Sue U]

the greatest Australian batsman outside Sir Donald Bradman

I suppose the greatest batsman inside Sir Donald Bradman would be . . er. . . Sir Donald Bradman unless there's some history there we've not heard of.

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -- Marx, G.

Sorry. Carry on.

[Gob]

But on a more serious note, I really do like the Australian cricket team caps. Somehow they've always seemed to present a flatter and more interesting shape than others that I've seen. A bit of flat-cappedness of distinction.

The baggy green is the evolution of cricket cap of green colour, which has been worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century.

The cap was not originally baggy as evidenced by photographs of early players. The cap has long been a symbol of national pride in Australia, and was described by the chief executive of the MCC as the "most famous cricket cap in the world".

While respect for the baggy green cap has always been high, it has grown in stature since the 1990s, chiefly due to the efforts of captains Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh. Waugh regularly expressed his belief that the honouring of the traditions of the game was critical to the success of a team: "To be able to partake of these rituals and traditions has meant you have been awarded the highest honour in Australian cricket — you have been selected to play for your country."


The baggy green cap was originally supplied to the player as part of a kit of equipment, and a new one was routinely issued for each tour, with the year number on it. In fact, a few former Australian players have been known to use the cap for 'non-cricketing' purposes. Bill Lawry used the cap while cleaning his pigeon's nest, while Bill Ponsford was known to wear the cap to protect his hair while painting the fence in front of his house. Ian Chappell never kept any of his baggy green caps. In the early 1990s an unofficial practice emerged amongst test players to never replace a baggy green cap, most notably by Steve Waugh. Although there is no official rule against a player obtaining a replacement cap from Cricket Australia, this almost never occurs, and the increasingly dilapidated state of an aging baggy green cap is a de facto symbol of seniority amongst the players in the team.


During his captaincy Taylor instituted a pre-match ceremony for the awarding of a cap. This continued under Waugh, who introduced a refinement whereby new players would receive their "baggy green" from a past player of a similar discipline (batsman, spin bowler, etc.). Ponting changed it again, making the presentation himself rather than using a former player. Another tradition instituted by Taylor (but suggested by Steve Waugh)(and one that has also continued) is the practice of all players wearing the cap during the first session in the field of a Test match, as a symbol of solidarity. Even Shane Warne, known for his attachment to a floppy sun hat, observed this tradition without question.Modern players seldom wear the baggy green cap while batting, choosing a protective helmet instead, especially when facing faster bowlers.

Baggy green caps can in some cases be prized as valuable sporting memorabilia. The cap worn by Sir Donald Bradman during his final season in 1948 sold in 2003 for A$425,000, and the 1953 cap of Keith Miller sold at auction for A$35,000.[7] Even the caps of lesser-known players have fetched figures above A$10,000.

Coat of Arms

Sometimes incorrectly called a "crest", the "achievement" or coat of arms on the Baggy Green cap is a pre-federation symbol representing Australian commercial endeavours of the time: wool-growing, shipping, mining and agriculture.

It consists of: a crest (being a rising sun); over a torse (or wreath) of red and gold; over a shield (bearing images of a golden fleece, a sailing ship, a pick-axe and shovel and a garb of wheat, all quartered by a southern cross); supporters (being a kangaroo and an emu); all over a motto ("Australia") on a scroll.

Contrary to a common belief, with the exception of the supporters and the motto, this coat of arms is entirely different to the present and any former national coat of arms. Since 1912 the Coat of Arms of Australia has borne the badges of the six Australian states, enclosed and unified on a shield under a wreath of blue and gold bearing a Commonwealth Star.

The device on the cap is sometimes referred to as Australia's Cricket Coat of Arms, although it has otherwise been abandoned by Cricket Australia. It is replicated on the protective helmet, but not on any other badged item of clothing worn by the Australian team. These now feature the current logogram of Cricket Australia, being a modern distorted shield with the ubiquitous Southern Cross on a green and gold field of a rising (or perhaps, setting) sun and a wicket casting a shadow on a pitch.