Ponting Retire From Test After Perth

Perth: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Thursday announced his retirement from Test cricket with this week's Perth Test against South Africa to be his last.

"A few hours ago I let the team know that this upcoming Test will be my last," he said at a hastily-called press conference.

The former Australia skipper, who turns 38 next month, has failed in three innings against the Proteas during draws in Brisbane and Adelaide and pressure was building on the 167-Test veteran ahead of Friday's third Test in Perth.

Ponting admitted in Adelaide that he was a realist and knew that if he did not start scoring runs then he "definitely" would not be in England for the Ashes in July and August next year.

Ponting has spoken in the past about his burning motivation to keep on playing after leading Australia to back-to-back Ashes series defeats before Michael Clarke took over the captaincy.

Ponting is Australia's top Test run-scorer, behind only India's Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time Test list, with 13,366 runs.

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