David Boon, the pugnacious batsman who Ricky Ponting grew up idolising, says the Australian captain can finish his career as Test cricket's greatest batsman.
As Ponting prepares to step out in his 100th Test today - becoming just the ninth Australian to do so - Boon has no doubt his fellow Tasmanian can ultimately fend off the likes of batting geniuses Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.
Indeed, Shane Warne yesterday rated his captain the most feared batsman in the world, ahead of his two good friends.
Ponting, 31, currently sits in 16th position on Test cricket's list of runscorers with 7990, behind fourth-placed Tendulkar (10,323) and No. 1 Lara (11,204).
In order to supercede Lara, who will play on at least until the 2007 World Cup, Ponting would possibly have to post 1000 runs for at least the next five years.
"At his age and if he remains relatively fit and injury free, with the amount of cricket that is played these days, another five years of Test cricket could easily see him do that," Boon said.
In Ponting's favour is that he is almost two years younger than Tendulkar, who has become increasingly injured in recent times.
Lara is 36 and has indicated he may not go on beyond the next World Cup in the Caribbean.
Boon and Ponting share a unique relationship. Ponting used to rush home from school to watch Boon bat on television through the late 1980s and early '90s.
Boon was a heavy influence on him in his early days in the then Sheffield Shield. They batted together when Ponting debuted for Tasmania in November 1992 in the key No. 4 spot, one behind Boon, while Ponting's first Test series - against Sri Lanka in 1995-96 - was Boon's last.
That relationship has now continued in their roles as captain and national selector.
"He is an outstanding cricketer and one of the greatest Australia has produced," Boon said.
"I think the captaincy has only improved his resolve to be the best he possibly can."
Records await for Ponting, who could also finish with the most Test centuries and should pass Steve Waugh's all-time record of 168 Test caps. If there's one thing certain about his 100th Test, it's that he won't be late for play - and for good reason.
As he reflected on his "amazing" journey yesterday, Ponting recalled a funny story from his debut Test, against the Sri Lankans in Perth.
"I was pretty nervous heading into my first Test, for a number of reasons," he said.
"My first Shield game for Tasmania, I slept in and missed the warm-up. I got the call from the coach telling me to get my backside down to the ground as quickly as I could. I had nightmares going through my head before my first Test match. I set two mobile phone alarms, the clock next to the bed, got a wake-up call and got mum and dad to ring me that morning to make sure I was up and about."
Ponting was dismissed for 96 in his first knock, robbed of a century when umpire Khizer Hayat upheld the lbw appeal of Chaminda Vaas for a ball which was plainly too high.
"Obviously it was really disappointing. Looking back it would have been nice to score 100 on debut," he said.
"But it was a pretty good start for a Test career. I think anybody would be happy with that score. I just left it at that."
It is that type of attitude which Warne says has made Ponting the respected leader he is today.
"I felt for him when he got out for 96 in first Test match in Perth when he was given out to an absolute shocker," Warne said. "He only expresses his emotions when something either eats at him or he is very unhappy about something, otherwise he takes everything in his stride."
Warne recalled when he first met Ponting, who was then the 17-year-old annointed by Test legend Rod Marsh as a once-in-a-generation player.
The master leg-spinner was at the cricket academy in Adelaide getting fit for the 1992 tour of Sri Lanka.
"He loved the punt - he was always looking at the paper and the races, so I nicknamed him the Punter," Warne said.
"We struck up a pretty good relationship from the time we met. You could see he had a lot of talent.
"There weren't many guys going into the nets at that stage without helmets hooking 'em and playing the short ball well.
"He was just a very likeable young guy."
But not so for bowlers around the world, who 26 times have watched the boy from the Launceston town of Mowbray notch a ton.
His latest was in Melbourne last week and Warne has predicted more misery for the South Africans at the SCG.
"I think his 100 in Melbourne was as good a hundred as he has made," he said.
"I think he's better than Brian Lara and Tendulkar at the moment."
- JON PIERIK