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Ponting proud of his long career

Magnificent 7
The seven players who have scored 10,000 Test runs.
Read as player (team), Tests, runs.
Brian Lara (West Indies) 131; 11,953
Sachin Tendulkar (India) 147; 11,782
Allan Border (Australia) 156; 11,174
Steve Waugh (Australia) 168; 10,927
Sunil Gavaskar (India) 125; 10,122
Rahul Dravid (India) 122; 10,098
Ricky Ponting (Australia) 118; 10,004

St. John’s (Antigua): Australian captain Ricky Ponting played down his achievement of becoming the seventh batsman to pass 10,000 runs in Tests, rejoicing more at the length of his career.

“I’m actually prouder of the amount of games I have played, my longevity in the game than how many runs I’ve scored,” he told reporters.

“I’ve played 118 Tests now and I guess if you bat in the top order and play that many games, you are probably expected to be around the mark that I am around at the moment.

Winning matters

“I am proud of everything I’ve achieved in the game but probably more proud of how many winnings teams I’ve played in rather than how many runs I’ve scored.

“They are the things that motivate me to keep playing, whenever I am confronted with a situation, whether it be to go and get a 100 or bat a session through, they are the things that excite me.

Ponting said he valued competition far more than breaking individual records.

“The one-on-one contests of the game of cricket are what keep me going,” he added. “Milestones and stats have never been anything that’s motivated me about the game.”

Ponting is the third fastest to get to five figures in terms of innings and second fastest for Tests.

“It was on my mind a little bit today actually. It’s nice to get there, disappointing to get out when I did but nice to get to that figure.

“I’ve never been anyone that’s really focused or worried too much about milestones or statistics but to be the third fastest player in history (to reach 10,000) is a nice little thing that I will be able to look back upon when I’m finished,” added the 33-year-old. — Agencies

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