Rested Ponting shows he's a charity case

By Alex Brown
February 1, 2006

IF Ricky Ponting is short on inspiration, he need only reach for his mobile phone. There, in amongst his messages, are several texts from a young supporter who was battling cancer. The battle was recently lost.

"When those sort of things happen it makes you work even harder and get out there and do whatever you can," Ponting said. "I still keep some text messages in my phone from one of the young guys who passed away only a few months ago."

This is a side of Ponting few see. Seldom one to trumpet his charity work, the Australian captain has quietly visited the Sydney Children's Hospital over the past few years with his wife, Rianna, to visit young cancer patients.

Ponting's involvement with the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia (CCIA) began after a lunch meeting with Phil Kearns, the former Wallaby captain and CCIA representative, several years ago. Since then, the Pontings have raised over $1 million for cancer research and plan to add substantially to that figure in the next year, with several charity golf days planned. One of Ponting's sponsors, Raymond Weil, will also donate to the CCIA via the sale of limited edition watches bearing the Australian captain's signature.

"Walking out [of the hospital] that [first] day, having visited maybe 15 or 20 young cancer sufferers, my wife and I walked out holding back tears and we both felt that we could do something to help," Ponting said. "We both became ambassadors of the charity very soon after that.

"You do walk out of there realising how lucky you are to be fit and healthy, for one, but also to be able to represent your country and do what maybe those kids had once aspired to do. It saddens you, but it makes you more determined to help."

Ponting will continue to intertwine his charity work with his cricketing commitments, which swung back into gear yesterday following a week-long break.

He said the break had refreshed him ahead of the one-day series finals and the tours to South Africa and Bangladesh.

"Being the cricket tragic I am, I haven't missed much, I've watched most of both games," he said. "I feel really good. To have a break, you have to get right away from cricket and the team, otherwise you're sitting there living and breathing cricket the whole time. A week off in the middle of the season seems like much longer."
