Viv Richards says 'champion' Ponting deserves to take final call on retirement

Legendary batsman Viv Richards has said a champion player like Ricky Ponting deserves to take a call on when to retire from the game after the former Australia captain sparked a fresh bout of speculation over his playing future after being dismissed for a duck in Australia's first innings of the first Test against South Africa.

“You should give him the benefit of the doubt, for him to bow out when he likes, because I think he deserves that,” the Age quoted Richards, as saying.

“When you have guys who have done so well, it's important you enjoy them for a long time and when they go, appreciate that also,” he added.

Former Australia skipper Ponting is Test cricket's second-leading run scorer, but he followed his modest tour of the West Indies in April (146 runs at 24.33) with a first-up failure to begin the home summer.