Ricky Ponting remains one of the greatest batters the cricketing world has ever seen, and his 27,483 international runs stand as proof of his remarkable career. While he is often linked to the long-standing rumour of using a spring-loaded bat during his iconic 2003 World Cup final innings, Ponting has now revealed the real secret behind his extraordinary batting precision.
In a recent conversation, the former Australia captain disclosed that during his playing days, Australian cricketers used special glasses designed to track even the slightest movement of their eyes while watching the ball. The analysis from these glasses revealed something unique about Ponting’s technique: he consistently focused on only the bottom five per cent of the ball as it approached him.
“We had these glasses that picked up every slight movement of your eyes when you were watching the ball,” Ponting said on the Straight Talk podcast with Mark Bouris. “The big thing that showed up with me was that I only looked at the bottom 5% of the ball. So when the ball was coming down the wicket, my focus point was on the bottom 5%, which was different from what everyone else did.”
Ponting is still regarded as one of the finest exponents of the pull shot, executing it with textbook perfection. According to him, this vision pattern was the primary reason behind his ability to pull even relatively fuller deliveries, a skill most batters struggle to master.
“I was able to play pull shots to balls that were fuller than the others,” he explained. “And when I thought about that, maybe it was because I was looking at the part of the ball that was actually hitting the wicket. If you are looking at the top of the ball, it’s going to be longer before you can pick up where the ball’s landing.”
Ponting’s revelation sheds rare insight into the technical brilliance that shaped his legendary career, proof that it wasn’t a mythical spring in his bat, but his extraordinary vision and attention to detail that set him apart.
