RICKY Ponting bares his soul like never before in his soon to be released autobiography, At The Close Of Play.

Here, we present some of the best extracts from the book, including Ponting's thoughts on getting dropped from the one-day side, retiring from Test cricket, and what he really thinks of Michael Clarke's leadership.

Ponting on ... getting dropped from ODI team

Inside, I was seething. Not for the first time in my career I had to keep a lid on what I was really thinking. These blokes had been appointed as the result of the Argus Review, a document that stressed the need for better communication between players and selectors. John Inverarity's new selection committee never gave me the chance to retire from ODI cricket, which - after 375 games, 50 more than any other Australian - I think I deserved.

Ponting on ... standing down from Test captaincy

Only 43 people had led Australia in a Test match. It would have been nice to be departing on the shoulders of my team-mates, victorious, rather than at a press conference after a defeat. One comfort was that it was totally my decision.

No one had knifed me; instead, a number of people tried to talk me out of it. Tim Nielsen thought it was vital I stayed in the job for as long as I could while the team was developing.

Senior figures from Cricket Australia contacted my manager, James Henderson, who had been looking after me since 2007, straight after the quarter-final to say, 'Don't let Ricky make any stupid decisions. At least make him hold fire until after the games in Bangladesh.'

But my mind was made up.

Ponting on ... Michael Clarke as vice-captain

It was true that I'd been a little disappointed with some of the things he'd done - or more accurately, hadn't done - as vice-captain, but I was now comfortable with the idea of him taking over.

It wasn't that he was disruptive or treacherous, and publicly he said all the right things, but he had never been one to get too involved in planning sessions or debriefs at the end of a day's play, or to volunteer to take on any of the captain's workload.

More than once, Tim Nielsen and I had encouraged him to take on more of a leadership role within the group, but when Pup was down on form or if he had a problem away from cricket, he'd go into his shell.

Ponting on ... Clarke’s commitment to team ethos

It never worried me if a bloke didn't want a drink in the dressing room, but I did wonder about blokes who didn't see the value in sticking around for a chat and a laugh and a post-mortem on the day's play.

This was the time when we could revel in our success, pick up the blokes who were struggling, and acknowledge the guys who were at the peak of their powers. Pup hardly bought into this tradition for a couple of years and the team noticed.

Ponting on ... being embarrassed by South Africa in Brisbane

I went into this Test in the best of form. Now for the first time I started to think maybe I'd never come good, not at the top level. I didn't feel inadequate or embarrassed. Instead, I was thinking of myself as being like a kid who'd used all his tokens at the show. It was as if someone had decided that I'd scored all the runs I was supposed to score in Test cricket.

Ponting on ... being embarrassed by South Africa in Adelaide

In the second innings, I scratched my way to 16, at which point Steyn pitched one short of a length outside off-stump, maybe reverse swinging away a fraction; a ball best left alone. I played a "nothing shot", indecisive, bat on an angle; if it had found the middle of my bat it would have been a tame push to cover. Instead, the ball took a thick inside edge and ricocheted back into my stumps.

"F--k!" I shouted in exasperation. I looked back at the stumps. "F--king idiot," I said loudly to myself.

Ponting on .. deciding to retire from Tests

I SAT on the edge of the bed, looked at Rianna, and quietly said what I'd been thinking since I'd unstrapped my pads a few hours earlier...

"I'm not sure I can do this anymore. I don't think I can keep putting myself through it."

Rianna looked at me and summed up the situation in a moment. I never had any doubts that she was the right woman for me and times like this confirmed it.

"You don't have to," she said gently. "You don't have to keep putting yourself through this."

We were in Adelaide, the place where Gilly and Marto had both hit the wall, and now it had happened to me. The day I never thought would come had arrived. I'd held it inside until I got back to the hotel, but the moment I sat on the bed the words spilled out.

Ponting on ... telling his father he was going to retire

I rang Dad, who was watching a Twenty20 Big Bash game on the television. "G'day Dad," I said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm watching blokes make runs, something you haven't been doing lately!" he quipped.

Dad was a constant. It was always good to talk to him.

However, his mood quickly changed when I told him I'd decided to retire.

"No, not yet mate," he said quietly. There was silence. As he tried to keep going, I could sense a tear in his voice. "No, just go out there and bat," he mumbled. "Shut everyone up."

At The Close Of Play, by Ricky Ponting, is on sale from October 21: http://www.amazon.com/Ponting-At-Close-Play-ebook/dp/B00DQ2F4BO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381376969&sr=8-1&keywords=ricky+ponting