Ricky Ponting has paid tribute to two ex-Tasmanian coaches and a childhood mentor as three key figures in his cricket career.
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From a Mowbray teen prodigy to Australia's most successful Test captain, Ponting reached great heights in a two-decade playing career and the 46-year-old has been just as successful as a coach.
He led the Mumbai Indians to the Indian Premier League title in 2015 and the Delhi Daredevils to the final last year, prompting Indian Test paceman Ishant Sharma to herald the Tasmanian as the best coach he'd ever worked under.
Reflecting on his roots at a function in Launceston last week, Ponting paid homage to three coaches who shaped his career, starting with three-time Shield winner Tim Coyle.
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"If you look at the golden era of Tasmanian cricket it was under one bloke's leadership," Ponting said.
"Coyley was around through Tassie's greatest success as a cricketing state so you've got to give him all the credit for that."
Coyle was the first to lead Tasmania to a Sheffield Shield title, but another, Greg Shipperd, had been the first to lead the state to a Shield final in 1993-94.
The Western Australian remained an ally to Ponting even after moving over to Victoria in the early 2000s, and has recently coached the Sydney Sixers to back-to-back BBL titles.
"He was my first state coach," Ponting said.
"He was someone, even through when I was playing international cricket, if things weren't going well that I'd speak to about batting and he was a great coach."
Ponting also made special mention of former Mowbray coach Ian Young, who gave him an A-grade debut as a 14-year-old.
The father of Ponting's former Tigers teammate and one-time Test representative Shaun Young, Ian invested priceless hours in the Invermay nets as a young Ponting worked on his game.
When Young died in 2010 aged 68, Ponting wore a black armband in a Test match in India to honour his mentor's passing.
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"He worked at the NTCA Ground and he gave me my first job, which was running the scoreboard when the state games were on.
"He'd finish work at the NTCA Ground, he'd come over to Invermay Park in his Blundstone boots and flannelette shirt, unbuttoned down to his belly button, with a bag of balls.
"He'd bowl at me non-stop - and he was 50 then - he'd bowl at me all night, until I'd had enough.
"He wasn't teaching me how to play the perfect cover drive, but he was teaching me what life and cricket and mateship and mentorship was all about.
"Coaching comes in lots of different ways and different measures - cricket skill coaching, team environment coaching, mentorship and just being a good person and showing respect to other people is also a good way of coaching - so I've definitely had some [great coaches] in my career."
A passionate Tasmanian and North Melbourne fan, Ponting has been keeping an eye on the state's bid to secure its own AFL team.
In the final year of five-year contracts with Tasmania, North and Hawthorn are both in limbo as the state government puts its foot down on securing a timeline for a standalone team.
Ponting said he backed Tasmania's bid, but as a 19th team rather than as a result of a merger with an existing AFL club.
"I'd love to see a Tasmanian AFL team but I wouldn't like to see it be the Kangaroos," he said.
"I was very anti the Kangaroos with the whole Gold Coast movement years ago as well ... [but] I'm more worried about where the Kangaroos are going in the next couple of years with their on-field performances, let alone where they're playing.
"The footy club's always been a passion of mine, I know a lot of the players really well and I want to see them have some success."
News is expected later this week as to whether the AFL Commission will speed up its assessment of the Tasmanian AFL taskforce's business report.