Courier Mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cWe also want to express our deepest appreciation to the medical team at Gold Coast University Hospital who have been nothing short of amazing throughout this challenging time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a trying time and the family ask that you respect their privacy.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Meningitis is an inflammation of protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord, and infection can cause harmful brain swelling. Martyn\u2019s condition is being closely monitored.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, there were indications of \u201cpositive signs\u201d surrounding Martyn\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
As the cricket world crosses its fingers for Martyn, former teammate and close friend Adam Gilchrist gave an encouraging update on behalf of the stricken star\u2019s family following a series of tests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still in hospital. There\u2019ll be more details come out as they come to hand but certainly in the last 24 hours, some positive signs are the indications coming out of the various tests he\u2019s having,\u201d Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been so much interest and love.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fine player, terrific fella. I just hope he can continue a recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilchrist began by extending gratitude for all the well wishes Martyn has received on behalf of the 54-year old and his family.<\/p>\n
Damien Martyn wearing his Test baggy green in 2001.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
\u201cOn behalf of Damien Martyn, a great friend, a former teammate of a few of us … on behalf of his family, Amanda his partner, thank you to everyone for the heartfelt love and wishes and care for Damien as he\u2019s gone through and continues to go through a challenging time,\u201d Gilchrist said.<\/p>\n
Brad Hardie, the 1985 Brownlow Medallist, first announced Martyn\u2019s plight on Perth\u2019s 6PR radio, without revealing the specific illness.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamien Martyn, the champ from WA, fantastic batsman \u2026 unfortunately took ill on Boxing Day and currently is residing in a Queensland hospital and he is in for the fight of his life,\u201d Hardie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like everybody to certainly have their best wishes and positive thoughts for Marto. God give him strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s hope he can pull through because it\u2019s really serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Australian Test cricketer Rodney Hogg added: \u201cWe wish him all the best. That\u2019s shocking news.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former teammate Darren Lehmann sent a message of support on X, writing: \u201cLots of love and prayers sending @damienmartyn way. Keep strong and fighting legend. Love to the family xxx.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ex-Western Australia teammate Ryan Campbell posted: \u201cSending lots of love & best wishes to @damienmartyn \u2026..Thinking of you & your family buddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
As former players across the western side of the globe woke up to the news on New Year\u2019s Eve, well wishes continued to flow for Martyn from the likes of Indian great Ravichandran Ashwin and former rival VVS Laxman, plus South African fast bowling legend Dale Steyn and Pakistan batting icon Mohammad Yousuf.<\/p>\n
Martyn was born in Darwin, grew up in Perth and starred playing for Western Australia. He now lives on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
He was an elegant right-hand batter who made 4,406 Test runs for Australia at an average of 46.37, with a best of 165 among 13 centuries.<\/p>\n
He also played 208 ODIs for 5,346 runs at 40.90, with a highest score of 144* from five tons. He made a famous 88 not out in the 2003 World Cup final, batting with a broken finger and sharing an epic partnership with captain Ricky Ponting as Australia beat India.<\/p>\n
Though Martyn has dabbled in commentary, he has reportedly kept his distance from cricket in retirement, rarely attending functions.<\/p>\n
He made a startling exit from cricket midway through the 2006\/07 Ashes, retiring abruptly after the second Test in Adelaide \u2014 one of Australia\u2019s most famous wins over England.<\/p>\n
He has never lost his passion for cricket. On Christmas Eve, he replied on X to a picture of the MCG lying in wait for the Boxing Day Test, saying: \u201cIf the old brigade could play again then this would be it. Boxing Day test match. What a cauldron.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also had a crack at strife-torn England before they rallied to win in Melbourne: \u201cNow it\u2019s all the beer plus the Noosa beach why England lost. Load of rubbish. Got to love media click bait. Australia are just better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damien Martyn, Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke pictured together in 2015.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Damien Martyn\u2019s family has given an update about the Australian cricket great\u2019s health battle after he was placed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[139006,6074,113597,1724,64,63,689,35086,60158,208763,24165,740,208769,208775,19524,208776,122703,5249,18754,205112,1208,208773,2057,208768,208767,205116,205117,208764,3738,208774,2485,208766,208777,1209,111628,647,47483,3583,8867,677,15299,46,11543,205114,208765,208770,701,205113,6417,205115,90279,1183,208771,18780,12540,208772,85,51141,125237,660,3439,91261],"class_list":["post-389817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-adam-gilchrist","tag-africa","tag-amanda","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-cricket","tag-baggy-green","tag-batting-icon","tag-brilliant-century","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-world-crosses","tag-dale-steyn","tag-damien-martyn","tag-damienmartyn-way","tag-darren-lehmann","tag-darwin","tag-david-warner","tag-elegant-right-hand-batter","tag-england","tag-epic-partnership","tag-europe","tag-family-buddy","tag-family-xxx","tag-famous-wins","tag-fantastic-batsman","tag-fast-bowling-legend","tag-fox-sports","tag-fresh-update","tag-gold-coast","tag-harmful-brain-swelling","tag-health-battle","tag-india","tag-induced-coma","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-clarke","tag-northern-europe","tag-northern-territory","tag-oceania","tag-pakistan","tag-perth","tag-positive-signs","tag-positive-thoughts","tag-prayers-sending","tag-protective-membranes","tag-queensland","tag-queensland-hospital","tag-ricky-ponting","tag-rodney-hogg","tag-ryan-campbell","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-fast-bowling","tag-southern-africa","tag-southern-asia","tag-spinal-cord","tag-sports","tag-steve-waugh","tag-test-match","tag-victoria","tag-western-australia","tag-western-side"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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