Ricky Ponting disappearance from final day of Perth Test explained

Ricky Ponting’s disappearance from the First Test against Pakistan has been explained as a storm erupted on Sunday.

Ricky Ponting’s disappearance from the final day of the First Test against Pakistan has been explained.

The Australian cricket icon pulled up stumps early in Perth because of Tuesday night’s blockbuster IPL auction — a pre-arranged move.

The former Test captain coaches the Delhi Capitals and his IPL role has taken priority over his TV commentary role with Channel 7.

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Ponting featured for Seven across the opening three days of Australia’s emphatic victory at Optus Stadium — but was nowhere to be seen on Sunday as Pat Cummins’ team wrapped up a 360-run win.

Code Sports first reported Ponting will attend the IPL auction in Dubai in-person and will be joined by fellow Aussie IPL coaches Justin Langer (Lucknow Super Giants) and Trevor Bayliss (Punjab Kings).

Ponting has been preparing for the annual cricket talent carve-up for months and said last month he was desperate to sign Travis Head following his heroics in the World Cup final.

Head will be highly sought after in the IPL auction and could join Pat Cummins and Cameron Green as the third Aussie to score a three million dollar payday.

Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

Bayliss’ decision to attend the auction in person has created a storm with the former England coach skipping his BBL team’s match this week.

Bayliss coaches the Sydney Thunder, but won’t be there when the Thunder face Adelaide Strikes on Tuesday night.

The Thunder’s following game is against the Melbourne Stars on Saturday.

Veteran cricket commentator Rick Eyre was among those to share their discomfort at seeing Bayliss leave the team in the middle of a campaign.

“Ponting’s absence from a media gig I have no absolute issue with. Bayliss, as the team coach at an elite tournament in progress, shouldn’t have the same alibi,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Nonetheless in both cases this is IPL primacy gone berserk.”

Ponting has previously spoken about the difficulties of balancing his coaching roles and media commitments. He signed a multi-year deal with Channel 7 when the network won the free to air broadcast rights in 2018.

Having previously emerged as one of the best commentators in cricket through his work with Network 10’s Big Bash coverage, Ponting was the most highly sought-after commentator alongside Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne when Channel 9 famously lost the cricket rights.

He previously juggled his roles with Seven while coaching Delhi Daredevils and featuring as a part-time coach of the Australian team while also holding a position as cricket operations supremo of the Hobart Hurricanes.

Ricky Ponting at the MCG this year. Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

His decision to leave Seven in the middle of a Test shows which of his roles commands the highest priority.

The money and influence of T20 cricket in India is expected to cause more disruptions to Australian cricket in coming yeas with reports the BCCI is planning a secondary T10 IPL tournament during a September-October window.

Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Todd Greenberg said the second IPL window is going to “create havoc”.

“My first impression was it was certainly no surprise,” Greenberg told SEN on Sunday.

“There was always going to be an additional window which is going to create havoc on bilateral cricket and the rest of the cricketing community so it’s a real challenge.

“And it’s not something I think you can just simply take a short-term view on. I genuinely think we need to be conscious of ensuring that all of international cricket need to continue playing meaningful cricket. So we’ve seen that improve with the World Test Championship which has contributed to Test cricket. Mind you I would say that we need to do more for some other countries that are getting further away I think in Test match cricket.

“This will be difficult. It will be obviously lucrative for the very elite players but will put enormous pressure on boards and bilateral cricket all over the world.”

Originally published as Ricky Ponting disappearance from final day of Perth Test explained