Ricky Ponting, the two-time World Cup-winning captain of Australia, returned to the commentary booth less than 24 hours after experiencing severe chest symptoms, calling the experience “frightening” for him.

I had my little mate JL looking after me and I’m back here shiny and new this morning. Ready for a good day of Test cricket after missing the best part of yesterday. https://t.co/w98EUZCS8E

— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) December 3, 2022

Only 24 hours after experiencing “sharp pains” in his chest that sent him to the hospital, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting returned to the commentary box on the fourth day of the Australia-West Indies Test match in Perth.

On Friday on Channel Seven, the right-handed batter was up about the health scare he experienced. He praised former teammate Justin Langer and Seven’s director of cricket Chris Jones for their advice to seek prompt medical attention when he felt chest pain on Friday before lunch while doing a commentary stint.

According to Ponting, “Yesterday I most likely startled a number of people and had a scary experience. I experienced a couple of fairly brief and intense chest pains while I was seated in the communications box midway through the stay.

“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 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.” he narrated.

“I feel great this morning, I am all shiny and new this morning,” he said.

“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.”

After the recent deaths of former Australia players Dean Jones, Rod Marsh, and Shane Warne as well as the heart attacks of former teammates Darren Lehmann and Ryan Campbell, Ponting, Langer, and their former teammates have been acutely cognizant of their heart health.

After losing Marsh, Warne, and Andrew Symonds within a three-month period, Ricky Ponting and his old Australia colleagues planned a trip together earlier this year, promising to look out for one another.

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