The Australian captain will be a man on a mission this summer as he bids to exorcise the demons from the last time he led his side into an Ashes series on English soil.
A modern day legend who simply doesn't like to lose, Australia's captain did help exact revenge on England for that narrow loss with a 5-0 drubbing Down Under.
However, the 34-year-old will not want to taste defeat again having become the first Australian skipper since 1986-87 to lose the Ashes four years ago.
No longer able to call upon the likes of Hayden, Gilchrist, McGrath and Warne, Ponting has still managed to keep his country at the top of the ICC Test rankings.
He had always seemed destined to lead Australia having made his international debut at the age of 20 following his rise to prominence as a teenager playing for Tasmania.
The right-hander made 96 on his Test debut but his career path has not always run straight - a late-night fracas in 1999 earned him a suspension from the national team and led to him admitting he had an alcohol problem.
Since then the man from Launceston has matured both on and off the field, leading to him taking over the captaincy from Steve Waugh in both the one-day and Test arena.
A constant fixture at number three in the order for well over a decade, Ponting has led Australia to World Cup glory in 2005 and 2009, while his personal performances have seen him claim the Allan Border Medal a record four times.
With a liking to launch into anything short and a superb straight drive, he has the capability to take bowling attacks apart within the space of a session or two.
Ponting has managed 37 Test centuries (only Sachin Tendulkar has scored more) and nearly 11,000 runs in the five-day format, making him one of the all-time greats.
