What are some lesser known facts about Ricky Ponting?
- Ricky’s uncle, Greg Campbell, played 4 Tests & 12 ODIs for Australia during 1989–90. Unlike Ricky, he was a fast bowler.
- Ricky is the eldest of 4 children, and his family grew up in working-class housing projects.
- Ricky received a sponsorship from the world-famous bat-company Kookaburra, when he was just 12-years-old and still in school!
- Ricky worked as a ground staff for a private college, just after leaving school at the age of 16!
- Shane Warne gave Ricky his nickname ‘Punter’ as he saw that Ricky liked dog-race-betting, in 1990!
- Ricky came close to being selected for Australia’s 1993 Test-and-ODI tour of England, but the selectors chose Damien Martyn instead.
- Ricky missed out on a century-on-debut by just 4 runs, against Sri Lanka in 1995.
- Ricky was thrown out of a Kolkata nightclub after the 2nd Test against India in 1998. Indian media said he misbehaved with women, & he was fined $1,000 by his team manager. He stated that it was a couples-night, & a common Indian friend had let in Australian cricketers without the company of any females. Later, when security asked them to leave, there was a fight. He denied misbehaving with any women, & witnesses also supported him.
- Ricky was the Australian captain during 2002–11, and played an important part in getting Shane Warne back into the Test team in 2004, and in Andrew Symonds’ rise as well.
- Ricky has his own vineyard & range-of-wines since his Test retirement. 🍷🍷