Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting has described Brent Harvey as the ultimate athlete and competitor and says he can’t wait to watch his record-breaking match.
Ponting, a North fanatic, penned a heartfelt tribute in Harvey’s auto-biography ‘Boomer’ which was released this week.
“I have been entertained, excited by and in awe Boomer for a long time. I still marvel at his explosiveness, durability, tenacity and have always loved his somewhat cheeky nature on the field,” Ponting wrote.
“The fact that he’s still going as well as he is, is remarkable. He hasn’t lost anything as far as his speed and skill is concerned. It’s arguably better than it was a few years ago. He’s also had to adapt like no other player.’
Illustrating his unconditional support of North, Ponting described how he spent hundreds of dollars on a phone call listening to the 1999 Grand Final from Sri Lanka.
“I improvised and called my best mate, Tim Quill, who was back home watching the game on TV. Thanks to Tim, I was able to listen to the entire second half on my mobile phone. At $10 a minute, it wasn’t cheap – but it worth every bloody cent when we were declared Premiers,” Ponting recalled.
The former Australia cricket captain described his obession for the Kangaroos and Harvey, saying he’d watched “every one of his 426 games so far”.
“The truth is, I have never missed a Kangaroos’ game for as far back as I can remember,” he said.
Ponting will travel to Etihad Stadium tomorrow night to watch Boomer make history by playing a record breaking 427th game.
