How good is Ponting? (-worma)

On occasion of Ponting's 100th test, BBC has come up with an interesting debate. How does he compare with his contemporaries...Lara, Dravid, Sachin. Is he in the same league, is he a great...or just very good? Does he have to bear a heavier legacy, being an Aussie than the others. I would think not, since Richards, Sobers, Sunny also make a significant enough legacy. Ofcourse they're not the Don.

But Ponting's overall record compares favourably to those three - his Test average is better than Lara's for instance and he has six more centuries to his name than Dravid.

Perhaps if Ponting, who at 31 has several years left at the top of the game, was not Australian he would also find praise easier to come by.

Don Bradman set an impossible legacy for future generations of Australian batsmen but they have not been shy to grasp the nettle.

On a similar note, Saurabh Wahi has come up with an excellent comparison of Ponting with Dravid on his blog, also highlighting the striking resemblance between the two careers.