Jospeh Lyons and Ricky Ponting have a couple of things in common.
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Both are the first and only Tasmanians to hold the Australian prime ministership and Test captaincy.
The only debate is who carried the heaviest burden?
When Mowbray Cricket Club’s greatest prodigy was named to replace a retiring Steve Waugh in the sport’s top job in late 2003, he was eight years into a dominant international career.
Ponting had just led Australia to World Cup glory in South Africa, and scored 1503 Test runs for the calendar year at an average 100.2, for which he won his first of four Allan Border Medals (2004/ 06/ 07 and 09) and was crowned Wisden Leading Cricketer in the Year. Waugh said Ponting was destined for the gig: “I couldn't have handed Australian cricket's ultimate individual honour to a more capable and deserving man”.
The Mowbray Heights and Brooks High alumni’s fate in hindsight was obvious from the get-go hanging around the changerooms at Invermay Park, being mentored by Eagles greats Ian Young, uncle Greg Campbell, Richard Soule, Mick Sellers and Brad Jones.
“Your home town, your home state I think shapes you as a person and then the way you are as a person shapes the way you play and the way you play is the way you’re remembered,” Ponting told The Examiner last month.
A confident 11-year-old Ponting knocked up four centuries in a week for the Mowbray under-13s in January 1986, which led to bat-maker Kookaburra sponsoring him the following year. He debuted for Tasmania aged 17 in 1992 and three years later he was in Australian colours.
First in February 1995 against South Africa in New Zealand for an ODI tournament and then 10-months later his first of 168 Test matches at the WACA against Sri Lanka – making 96 in the first innings.
What followed was a period of turbulence for Ponting, known for his love of greyhounds and a gamble – hence his nickname Punter.
He was in and out of the Test team after Australia finished runners-up to Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup, following a Calcutta nightclub scuffle in 1998 and Kings Cross bar fight one year later – misdemeanours many claim was the flashpoint in his journey.
Another was his relationship with now wife Rianna.
From there came a 1999 World Cup victory, an elevation to No.3 in the Test side for the 2001 Ashes and the one-day captaincy 12 months later.
An unbeaten 140 against India in the nation’s second-consecutive world ODI crown in South Africa in 2003 and three double-centuries in a season – equaling Sir Don Bradman’s record – led him to Australian cricket’s golden boy as captain fantastic.
Ponting would go on to lead Australia in 77 Tests with a 62 per cent winning record. He was also in charge of the most ever ODI’s (227) and won 76 per cent of them – including two World Cups in 2003 and 2007 and Champions Trophies in 2006 and 2009. He inherited a team of champions and his first Test mission was a tour of Sri Lanka in March 2004 (Australia won 3-nil), following Waugh’s Sydney farewell in January 2003.
A broken thumb kept him from all-but one Test in the nation’s first series triumph in India for more than three decades and in 2005 he was the first captain not to return from England with The Urn since Border in 1987.
In fact, he is Australia’s only skipper to suffer three Ashes defeats – two away (2005, 2009) and one at home (2010-11) – a blight on what is otherwise a remarkable record. The first sparked a period of redemption, which saw Australia win its maiden Champions Trophy and Ponting score two centuries in his 100th Test against South Africa at the SCG in 2006 – a year he was crowned ICC Player of the Year. The summer of 2006-07 saw Australia whitewash the Poms with Ponting crowned man of the series for 576 runs at 82.28.
He was named ICC cricketer and captain of the year in 2007 only to become the first Australian captain in 2008 to lose a home Test series since 1992-93, when defeated by South Africa. Ponting’s tactics and fiery demeanour as captain were often questioned, especially after the first three years when legends retired in 2007 and he was tasked to rebuild Australian cricket.
However, he is the most successful Aussie leader (48 wins), he equalled Waugh’s record 16-consecutive victories, led Australia to 26 consecutive undefeated World Cup games, is the fourth-most capped captain in history, remains the only player to have won 100 Tests and is the second most prolific batsman of all time with 13,378 Test runs – behind Sachin Tendulkar. By 2011, Ponting’s output had plateaued and he quit the captaincy after failing to defend his World Cup crowns and regain The Ashes, but fought on as a batsman under Michael Clarke until retiring in November 2012.