Ponting gives up captaincy

FE Team | Published: March 30, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

SYDNEY, Mar 29 (AFP): Ricky Ponting quit as Australia's Test and one-day captain Tuesday, bowing to pressure after their World Cup exit, but said he hoped to extend his career as his country's most prolific batsman. Ponting, 36, who led Australia in more than 300 Test and one-day matches, insisted there was no "tap on the shoulder" to step down and said he remained available for selection. He endorsed deputy Michael Clarke as his successor. "I have thought long and hard about what Australian cricket needs. Now is the right time for the next captain to assume the responsibility for both the Test and one-day teams," he told a press conference. Ponting is Australia's most successful Test captain and their leading Test run-scorer, and lies second only to India's Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time list of Test centurions. But his record, straddling a transition period after the retirement of a host of greats, is tainted with three Ashes series defeats to England, along with occasional flashes of petulance. Ponting said last week's World Cup quarter-final loss to India -- ending their 12-year reign as champions -- prompted his move.