A hundred wins and a new baby for Ponting

Australia news: Shaun Marsh to debut as ‘Punter’ flies home to be present at his child’s birth

Ricky Thomas Ponting has become first player to be part of 100 Test wins, a remarkable and matchless feat. Incredible ‘Punter’ was already a leader in that regard by a big margin, but Australia’s victory over Sri Lanka at Galle today broached a unique ‘century’ for him.

The Test finished a day earlier which meant Ponting had time to be with his wife, Rianna, who is expecting to give birth to their second child in a couple of days. After a week’s break, Ponting will fly back to play in the third and last Test match.

Being part of 100 Test wins seems an unbelievable feat at first glance, but it shows how dominant Australia were in the previous decade and a half. For this reason, Australians occupy all the top 7 positions. It is remarkable that next man (still playing) on highest wins is Mark Boucher, who has been part of 70 Test wins. 
 
Ponting’s journey, Australia’s in effect, started in December 1995 against Sri Lanka, and the ‘ton’ too was accomplished against the same team. Every one knows how special a player Ponting has been over the years, but in matches won by Australia, in all 100 of them, he averages five and a half runs per innings more than his over-all test average of 53.26.

He has scored 8375 runs in Test wins, about 2000 more than the next man Steve Waugh. His over-all win percentage is about 65%, 6^th overall with Adam Gilchrist leading the list with 76 %. But in Australia’s prime from 1999 to 2006, when he too was firing all cylinders, his contribution was 74%.

For a man like Ponting, who relishes a Test win more than any thing, this feat means a lot. As he himself said each victory was significant for him since Australia’s slide started in 2008.

After the latest win over Sri Lanka in their backyard Ponting said: "My proudest moment as captain was walking off the field in Durban [in 2009] when we beat South Africa over there. That was with a very young team. That was the proudest moment of my captaincy, and I think Michael Clarke will say something similar now.”

His captain Michael Clarke played rich tribute to the master by saying: "It's a very special victory for Punter. I think the one thing I've always said is a great player is determined by his longevity and Ricky's played a hell of a lot of Test cricket, scored a hell of a lot of Test runs and captained a hell of a lot of Test victories as well. He's an amazing player. His bowling wasn't even too bad yesterday."

In Ponting’s absence, David Warner has been called by the Australian selection panel to be with the squad. Shaun Marsh is expected to make his debt in the second Test.

On his departure, Ponting said: "Hopefully the baby comes in the next couple of days and hopefully I'll be around for a few days and hopefully be able to get them out of hospital and be back in time to get prepared to play the third Test. As the tour's worn on, one thing I didn't want to do if at all possible was miss the birth, and Rianna's started to struggle a little more the last few days so she just needs me home at the moment."

The couple has a 3-year old daughter named Emmy Charlotte.

Stats credit: ESPNcricinfo