Nasser Hussain's insight: We knew Smith was heading to The Oval but the recruitment of Ponting takes things up a notch. The pair will leave a cultural legacy

Make no mistake, Thursday was a huge day for Surrey and English cricket. What the county are trying to do is change the culture of their team for the better by bringing in two mighty serious players. They have signed two of the great leaders of our game of the last 20 years.

We knew Graeme Smith was heading to The Kia Oval but now the recruitment of Ricky Ponting takes things up a notch. The pair of them will not be coming here just for the cash. They will be hungry for success and hungry to leave a lasting impression on the other players in their team, a cultural legacy.

Surrey have signed character, on and off the field. I liken it to when Shane Warne took over as captain of Hampshire. Before his arrival the county had the reputation as a bit of a ‘happy Hants’ outfit, but Shane instilled a professional, winning mentality that is prevalent at the Ageas Bowl to this day.

Welcome aboard: Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith have both signed for county side Surrey

What Smith and Ponting will want to do is talk in five years time in the way Warne talks of Hampshire now. Shane is proud of ‘his’ boys, of how well Dimi Mascarenhas went on to do, of the great strides that Chris Tremlett subsequently made with England. Smith and Ponting, these two huge figures, will want to be similarly proud of the many young talents who are at the Oval now.

Times have changed in county cricket. I can’t tell you how much I learned from our overseas players. I can still see Allan Border coming back into our dressing room at Essex after being dismissed and someone saying to him ‘bad luck, AB’. Border was furious. ‘Bad luck?’ he shouted. ‘You Poms are always going on about luck. It had nothing to do with that. I batted like a busted arse. That’s why I’m out!’

That stuck with me. Border did not make any excuses and did not expect the rest of us to either. Similarly, people said Mark Waugh was a natural catcher of the ball but he made it look easy by practicing so hard at his catching every day. I saw him do that at Chelmsford. It was a great example to us younger players and that’s what Surrey will get now even if Ponting is not around for the whole year.

Right out the middle: Ponting in action for Australian state team Tasmania

Okay, players of this calibre are not around all season for a county now but any young player who takes to the field in the same county team as Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Kevin Pietersen must be influenced for the better.

Whatever anyone thinks of KP he is one of the most hard working, dedicated, professional cricketers I’ve seen and the same can clearly be said for the two great overseas players by his side. The other Surrey players will think of the three of them as superstars but they will realise when they play with them that they are just normal guys with the same worries and the same desire to do well.

I am not surprised in a way at this move by Ponting because he is so devoted to cricket. Even at 38 he wants this challenge, he wants to show that he can still do it, can still score runs in an English summer while his Aussie mates are close by fighting for the Ashes.

Dream team: Ponting will also team up with Kevin Pietersen at Surrey

But in another way I am surprised because I couldn’t do it. Once I finished international cricket that was it. I couldn’t raise myself to play domestically. That’s where a great player like Ponting is different. He will know that his best days are behind him but he is still prepared to back that pull shot of his, that drive through mid-on off a fast bowler, even against dibbly-dobbly bowlers on slow county wickets.

He is prepared to put his reputation on the line at a time in his life when, really, he has nothing left to prove to anyone in the game. he could be sitting at home basking in what he has achieved but, no, he wants more.

What everyone at the Oval must take on board now is that it is not totally about these superstars. It is about the rest of the team. It is about how they respond. This is a fabulous opportunity for any Surrey player and they must make the best of it. 

It will be about them stepping up and raising the standards of the whole team. If they do that then, yes, this is a good day for Surrey and for county cricket alright. I look forward to seeing Ricky Ponting in his brown cap rather than his baggy green one. I think it will suit him rather well.

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