Ricky Ponting Unveils Own Statue, Wants Hobart to Host Test vs India

Hobart's celebrated son Ricky Ponting will now be a permanent fixture at Bellerive Oval, now called the Blundstone Arena. The former Australian captain unveiled a bronze statue of himself on the concourse of the Ricky Ponting Stand on Wednesday and demanded a better deal for Tasmania as a Test venue. (Steve Waugh Backs Ricky Ponting, Michael Holding Call to Dump Test Toss)

Ponting wanted Hobart to host a Test match against the Big Three of world cricket - India, South Africa and England. Tasmanians have turned up in big numbers during the Big Bash and Ponting feels they will fill the stands during Tests too. (Ricky Ponting to be Inducted Into Sport Australia Hall of Fame)

"What I would like to see is that Hobart and Tasmania get a Test match every year. It's pretty hard to make assumptions on Tasmanian cricket or people coming to watch Test cricket in Australia when there's no continuity about where the games are.

"The Tasmanian public are being judged on Test matches against lower-ranked teams. Let's have an Ashes Test match, let's have a Test match against South Africa, let's have a Test match against India here and then we can start making some judgments and comparisons with other venues around Australia," Ponting said.

Ponting, a member of the MCC World Cricket Committee, is wary of too many dramatic changes such as shortening Tests to four days.

"I really haven't heard enough of the positive sides of four-day Test cricket. I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I don't like seeing the game change too much," Ponting said.

"What we need to do is get out there to the public and ask them what they want out of a day's Test cricket. Have we actually done that? Have we been to India and asked them what they want and why they're not going to Test match cricket? I think that's a good starting point."