Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has opened up on the ‘scary’ health scare that saw him rushed to hospital due to pains in his chest.
Ponting, 47, was taken to hospital on Friday after feeling ‘sharp pains’ in his chest and experiencing dizziness as he commentated on the first Test between Australia and West Indies in Perth.
‘I probably scared a lot of people yesterday and had a scary moment for myself,’ Ponting said on Channel 7 as he returned to commentate on the fourth day of the Test match.
‘I was sitting in the commentary 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 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 [former Australia coach Justin Langer] on the way out, who was commentating with me, that I had had these pains in my chest and [Channel 7 executive producer] Chris Jones heard me and just reacted straight away and got me out of there.
‘About 10 or 15 minutes later, I was in the hospital getting the best treatment that I possibly could.’
Ponting says he had a relaxing sleep at the hospital and felt ‘all shiny and new’ upon his return to the Optus Stadium in Perth, where Australia are closing in on a dominant win over West Indies.
But the Australia legend admits he was on high alert given the recent tragic deaths of Shane Warne and Rod Marsh.
‘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,’ Ponting added.
‘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.’
Ponting played 168 Tests and 392 one-day games for Australia across a sensational 17-year international career.
He led Australia to two Ashes victories and two World Cup wins before retiring in 2012 and turning his attentions to commentary and coaching.
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