24,000 first class runs for Punter

SURREY: Ricky Ponting, in his last first-class innings, reached 24,000 first-class run mark when he reached 19 in an unbeaten 41 in surrey’s second innings against Nottinghamshire AT THE Oval.

Ponting made his first-class debut for Tasmania in November 1992, when just 17 years and 337 days old, becoming the youngest Tasmanian to play in a Sheffield Shield match.

However, he had to wait until 1995 before making his One Day International (ODI) debut, during a quadrangular tournament in New Zealand in a match against South Africa. His Test debut followed shortly after, when selected for the first Test of the 1995 home series against Sri Lanka in Perth, in which he scored 96.

In a career which saw him play over 280 first class matches and scoring more than 24,000 runs at an average of over 55, he is considered to be one of the best batsmen in modern cricket alongside Tendulkar and Lara.

He played 168 Tests and 375 ODIs for Australia scoring more than 13000 runs in both forms of cricket.