Ricky Ponting at yesterday's PM's XI match.
FLOODING in Queensland has a silver lining for Launceston cricket fans, with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting turning out for Mowbray this weekend.
Ponting is due to play for his old club, Mowbray, at Invermay Park against Launceston on Saturday, in the first day of a two-day NTCA game.
Mowbray Cricket Club chairman Simon Howard said yesterday that Ponting, who grew up in Mowbray and played for the club before embarking on a stellar international career, last played for Mowbray in 2005 in a Twenty20 game.
Howard said Ponting was able to play for Mowbray because last weekend's Ryobi Cup match against Queensland was washed out in Brisbane, meaning the players needed more time ``out in the middle''.
He said Ponting was expected to play all of Saturday but probably not Sunday, as he had state training in Hobart that day.
Ponting, who lives in Sydney, retired from international cricket last year and now plays for the Tasmanian side in the Sheffield Shield and the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.
Howard said having ``Punter'' back on home soil was a great coup and he urged the public to come along and watch.
The game will be played at Invermay Park, Forster Street, from 10.30am to 5.30pm on Saturday with free admission.
``All the players are having a hit with their grass-roots clubs,'' Howard said of the Tasmanian players in the wake of the Brisbane washout.
``Here is a chance to see a former Test captain in his home town having a hit with his home club.''