And why couldn't one of Australian sport's greatest ever servants and cricket's finest contributors be afforded a "send-off" farewell match on his official home ground Hobart where Australia's next one-day match is played against Sri Lanka?
At 37 and unquestionably in the diminishing stage of his distinguished career, Ponting is understood to have been required to miss a trip to Perth for a single one-day game on February 10.
But, the former Test and one-day captain declined to miss a game as part of Australia’s controversial rest and recuperation process.
The nation’s highest Test and one-day run-scorer insisted that he play in Perth and robbed the national coaching and selection panel the chance to blood new batsman Peter Forrest with his debut.
Ponting is believed to have been offered the chance to stay in Sydney and possibly rejoin the triangular one-day travelling circus back in his home town for Australia’s fourth game if this summer’s triangular series against Sri Lanka.
Ironically, after declining the invitation and quite possibly even sensing himself that the selectors were after his scalp to make way for new blood, Ponting continued with his stuttering form and even took a two-match stand-in stint as captain with Michael Clarke out nursing a slight hamstring strain after Adelaide.
A further bizarre twist in Ponting’s demise as an international one-day player is that the star batsman who has scored 13,200 Test runs from 162 matcehs and 13,704 limited-over runs as well from 375 games, could still be inclined to play the longest form of the game.
His management announced that Ponting would hold a media conference in Sydney on Tuesday, almost exactly as national chairman of selectors John Inverarity was casting grave doubts on his future at any level.
Inverarity confessed he had spoken with Ponting before making announcement of news to rock Australian cricket but at the same time declared he had “no idea” what the batting great intended to announce at his next public appearance.
Ponting spent three months to launch his home international summer in an urgent batting remedial program to rejuvenate his failing technique.
It was an undoubted success.
Along with the rebirth of Australia’s pace bowling depth and power, Ponting’s revival was the feel-good story of the home summer.
He scored 544 runs from six Test innings at an average of 108.8 in the 4-nil whitewash of India.
The gifted right-hander’s last outing at the game’s highest level was one stunning 221 and an unbeaten 60 in Australia’s crushing Fourth Test 298-run win in Adelaide.
It will be a travesty if Ponting’s dispute with the national selection panel and team management and his unwillingness to step aside from limited-overs cricket sours further with a decision to retire from all forms of the game.
There is no apparent immediate reason for the born-again Test specialist not to continue in that form of the game.
Clarke’s Aussies head for the Caribbean in April for a three-Test series against the West Indies.
Ponting should continue as a member of the Test team.