Ponting puts Ashes revenge ahead of Twenty20 career
AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting yesterday announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket in order to prolong his glittering career.
The 34-year-old will remain as Australian Test and one-day skipper but has decided to step aside from the shorter form of the game in order to enhance his chances of returning to England to break his Ashes duck.
Twice Ponting has captained a losing side in an Ashes series on these shores and although he will be 38 come 2013, the Aussie batsman is desperate to address the balance.
“Having returned from England with the taste in my mouth that I had, I was very keen to be able to try and give it every possible crack to be back there again,” Ponting said. “This decision now is part of giving myself the best chance to achieve that.”
Ponting also revealed that his disappointing form with the bat in the Ashes series also contributed to the decision. “Over the last couple of years I’ve found it increasing difficult to play all three forms of the game at the level that I want to play them,” he added.
“I’ve looked at the Twenty20 program for the next couple of years. In the next 12 months alone, I’ve looked at having probably an extra four weeks off which will give me an opportunity to get away and just make sure that I’m ready to go for both the Test matches and the one-day cricket we have in that period.
“You look at even how I started this latest Ashes series, going in nice and fresh and making a hundred in the first game and almost going downhill during the series. I want to make sure that doesn’t occur for the rest of my career. Having the extra few weeks at home will give me a better chance to do that.”
Ponting is currently taking a much-needed rest after the Ashes but is set to return to England on Saturday to take part in the rest of the one-day series.