His first-class playing career came to an end last week when his battling unbeaten century secured a draw for Surrey against Notts in the Division 1 of the English County Championship.
Ricky Ponting, former Australian captain(How did it feel, leaving the pitch after your last first class game?) “Well to tell you the truth, I for the whole week hadn’t really thought much about it. Like I obviously knew it was my last first-class game going into the game. But the way the game unfolded, I had to sort of stay in the moment, you know, bat as long and as well as I could. And almost try and get the team into a winning position. As it turned out, we weren’t quite good enough to do that but then I had to hang on for a draw in that game which was hard work. But it was a nice way for me to finish with a big score in my last first class innings, which was nice.”
“I think that the biggest thing for me once cricket has finally finished is that I have got to find some way to have a competitive edge as well. Like, I am a very competitive person. And that is the reason I am probably still playing cricket now is that even though I had finished playing Test cricket, I still had that desire to be out there competing. I had the chance to do that with the Mumbai Indians. Now the chance to do that here in Surrey and I have got a bit more 20-20 cricket to play in the Caribbean in a few weeks time which will then be me done. And then as I said, I will chase the girls (his two daughters) around for a little while and make sure I am a good dad and the best parent I can be for a short period of time. And hopefully get back involved in the game, some way down the track.”
(Would you like to be out there playing in this Ashes series for Australia?) “No, mate. Look, my international career has been over now for seven months. I have had a lot of time to digest what it would mean for me to be in country while an Ashes series is going on. I have just been really excited to be here with the build-up and be a part of it all. You know, I have probably copped a bit (taken a bit of criticism) walking the streets and walking about most of the county grounds, about what the outcome of this series might be. But interestingly enough, things have quietened down over the last couple of days. And I just wish the boys all the best in their prep for the Lords Test. It is a special week for the boys this week, preparing for that Test match. And hopefully they can just improve a little bit on the performance last week.”
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