Ricky Thomas Ponting, AO (born 19 December 1974), is an Australian former international cricketer, and two-time World Cup winning captain in 2003 and 2007, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its 'golden era'; between 2004 and 2011 in Test and 2002 and 2011 in ODI. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, an excellent slip / close catching fielder, as well as a very occasional bowler. He was named "Cricketer of the decade 2000". He led Australia to victory at the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and was also a member of the 1999 World Cup winning team under Steve Waugh.
He represented the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket, the Hobart Hurricanes in Australia's domestic T20 competition the Big Bash League, and played in the Indian Premier League with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008. He is widely considered by many to be one of the best batsmen of the modern era, alongside Sachin Tendulkar of India and Brian Lara of the West Indies. On 1 December 2006, he reached the highest rating achieved by a Test batsman in the last 50 years, until it was surpassed by Steve Smith in December 2017. Ricky is arguably the most decorated player to have played regional cricket in Tasmania.