Just 24 hours after suffering ‘sharp pains’ in his chest and getting admitted to hospital, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has returned to commentate in the ongoing first Test match between Australia and West Indies at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Notably, Ponting walked out of the commentary box on the stroke of lunch on Day 3, having been on the broadcast for the previous 40 minutes. Upon complaining of some pains in his chest, the Tasmanian was then sent to the hospital as a precaution.
The 47-year-old opened up on Channel Seven about his health scare on Friday. Ponting said he was thankful for the quick assistance of close friend and former team-mate Justin Langer along with Channel Seven’s head of cricket Chris Jones, who urged Punter to seek immediate treatment after feeling pain in his chest.
“I probably scared a lot of people yesterday and had a scary moment for myself. I was sitting in the comms box halfway through the stint and got a couple of really short and sharp pains to my chest. I tried to stretch it out and get rid of it, and probably didn’t want to give too much away when I was on the air. I had a couple of those incidents, got through the stint and went to walk to the back of the commentary box and got lightheaded and dizzy and grabbed the bench. I mentioned to JL on the way out, who was commentating with me that I had had these pains in my chest, and Chris Jones heard me and just reacted straight away and got me out of there. Ten or 15 minutes later, I was in the hospital getting the best treatment that I possibly could. I feel great this morning, I am all shiny and new this morning,” said Ponting.
“I think the bottom line is, the fact that I was willing to share it with JL and the fact that your mate looks after you, I think as people of our age, we are a little reluctant to share much or talk about our health, and I think that is a good learning curve for me yesterday, especially with what has happened in the last 12-18 months to really close people around us. My little mate looked after me and got me down there, and I’m back, shiny and new this morning,” he added.
Here is the video:
“I mentioned to JL who was commentating with me that I’d had these pains in my chest … 10 or 15 minutes later I was in the hospital getting the best treatment I possibly could.”
– @RickyPonting talks about his last 24 hours pic.twitter.com/GnW8OADghg
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 3, 2022