Australia’s World Cup King
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Ian Waldie/Getty Images
Will Swanton, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, says Ricky Ponting’s desire to extend his Test career meant Twenty20s or one-dayers had to be obliterated from his schedule. He chose to get rid of Twenty20s.
Why had Australia's front man bucked popular opinion and chosen one-dayers over cricket's version of Beatlemania? Why turn his back on truckloads of cash, packed crowds, adrenaline rushes, sure-fire ratings hits and even more truckloads of cash? His simple answer: ''World Cup.''
Ponting plays his 334th one-day international, the most by an Australian, when his high-flying team meets Pakistan at the WACA on Friday. He is a behemoth of the most prestigious one-day tournament of all. Viv Richards, Steve Waugh, Allan Border have all had moments of blinding brilliance in the World Cup's sun but Ponting's success shades them all.
Peter English is former Australasia editor of ESPNcricinfo