Ahmedabad: Australia captain Ricky Ponting has annulled reports that he will retire after the World Cup, confirming that he has no plans to end his playing career or give up the captaincy.
Ponting, 36, would retire and was hoping to cap off his career by captaining an English county side this year, but Ponting said the story was untrue, The Daily Mail on Wednesday reported.
“I have never ever thought about retirement or where the finish line might be,” he said. “I have been trying to prepare myself as best I can as a player and lead the team as well as possible. For some reason, these retirement things keep popping up all the time. As we all know, you probably shouldn’t always believe everything you read in the newspaper.
“It looks like every few weeks now I am having to answer that question. I am enjoying it as much as ever. We have got a big game coming up against India that I am looking forward to, and more importantly I am looking forward to getting out there and performing well as a player.”
However, there was some truth to the report, with Ponting’s management having scouted around the county circuit in an attempt for Ponting to secure a first-class deal in the lead-up to Australia’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in August. Ponting said the county option had fallen through due to the timing of the English domestic competitions.
“I looked at trying to play some county cricket before the Sri Lankan tour this year, for the fact that I would have been coming off three months of no cricket and I thought we were going straight in to Test matches,” Ponting said. “That is why my management had a look around a few of the counties to see if they were interested. As it worked out, our programs just did not line up.
“The Twenty20s and one-dayers are mainly on in England at that time and I wanted to get some four-day cricket under my belt before the Test matches in Sri Lanka. That’s how that started, but it did not work out and I certainly won’t be going to play there this year.”
The retirement rumour came a day after a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, in which an unnamed Cricket Australia official was quoted as saying that Ponting faced a challenge at board level to retain the captaincy. Ponting said he was keen to play on in Test and ODI cricket and if he was asked to step aside as leader to make way for Michael Clarke, it would not be an issue.
“If Cricket Australia believe, or the selectors believe that there’s someone out there better to captain any team that I play in, then so be it,” Ponting said. “If it happens that I’m still good enough to be playing in the team with another captain, then so be it as well. I’m open to any of that sort of stuff. By the same token, I’ll know when the time is right for me to step aside as captain or step aside as a player. Right now, I don’t think that’s the right time.”
Dear TNT Reader,
At The News Tribe, our mission is to bring you free, independent, and unbiased news and content that keeps you informed and empowered. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism, as we understand that we are a platform for truth.
Apart from independent global news coverage, we also commit our unique focus on the Muslim world. In an age marked by the troubling rise of Islamophobia and widespread misrepresentation of Muslims in Western media, we strive to provide accurate and fair coverage.
But to continue doing so, we need your support. Even a small donation of 1$ can make a big difference. Your contribution will help us maintain the quality of our news and counteract the negative narratives that are so prevalent.
Please consider donating today to ensure we can keep delivering the news that matters. Together, we can make a positive impact on the world, and work towards a more inclusive, informed global society.
Donate Monthly Subscription Annual Subscription