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Former Australia Test opening batsman Chris Rogers has been hailed a hero after the 47-year-old came to the aid of an elderly gentleman who had fallen over while getting off a train.
Rogers, affectionately known as ‘Bucky’, had been making his way home on public transport after watching Australia suffer defeat by the British and Irish Lions in Melbourne last Saturday.
The cricketer had gotten off the train, where he revealed he heard a thud. He turned around to look for what caused the noise but saw that a gentleman, who he believed was ‘close to around 80 years old’, had fallen while getting off the train.
‘There was a bit of drama,’ he told 3AW’s Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft on Wednesday.
‘I turned and saw this poor old guy with his feet still in the carriage but on his back and he’d landed on the back of his head with a big gash and blood coming out of the back of his head.
‘Quite a few people attended to him and I called the ambulance. We managed to get him sat down and he seemed coherent and OK-ish.
Aussie Test cricket great Chris Rogers has been hailed a hero for rushing to the aid of an elderly man who fall to the ground injuring himself as he travelled home following Saturday's British and Irish Lions clash against Australia
Rogers (left with David Warner) enjoyed a glittering career, winning 25 Test caps for Australia
‘But the ambulance was going to take a while, so I decided to take him to Alfred Hospital. And fortunately, all is good!’
Rogers, who doesn’t live far away, said that the ambulance was going to take around 40 minutes to arrive at the scene.
Noting the time and that the gentleman did not have any private health insurance to cover the ambulance costs, he opted to drive him to the hospital.
‘I don’t live far from the station, so it was a bit: “What do we do here?” One of the guys looking after him said he was a doctor. I asked: “Do you think I should take him?” The poor old guy didn’t have private health either so no ambulance cover. Decided it was the best thing to do.
‘I’ve spoken to them [the paramedics] and they understood it wasn’t life-threatening. It wasn’t probably on the urgent list. So it was going to be around 40 to 50 minutes.’
Rogers enjoyed a glittering career in cricket. Born in New South Wales, he would begin his first class career with Western Australia back in 1998.
The 47-year-old would go on to amass a whopping 25,470 first-class runs, spending ten years in England playing for the likes of Derbyshire and Middlesex, while also playing Shield cricket for Victoria.
Left-hander made his debut for the Aussie Test cricket side at the age of 30 in 2008. He made a single appearance for the Baggy Greens before returning to play for the side during the 2013 Ashes series and the following 2015 series, amassing 25 caps for the national side.
Rogers explained that he chose to drive the injured man to the hospital after the man, who he believed was 'around 80 years old', had fallen while getting stuck in the train's doors
While en route to the hospital, Rogers revealed to the broadcasters that he had a chat with the injured gentleman.
‘I asked him a few questions as we went along - it was clear he had no idea about cricket... which is a good thing,’ he joked.
However, Rogers was unable to confirm if there was an update on the gentleman’s condition.
‘I haven’t heard, actually. His family were coming in and I had to get back to mine. Yeah, he seemed in OK spirits and they were good to look after him,’ he said.
During the show, Rogers also opened up on what it’s like to play top-level cricket while being colourblind.
He had previously been forced to rule himself out of a day-night match in 2014, which was trialling the pink ball due to his visual impairment.
When asked what a red cricket ball looked like when it was bowled, he said: ‘Dark. I mean you’re not colourblind, you still see colours, but it’s difficult to distinguish between shades of colours.
‘If I were side-on and there were trees in the background, it was really hard to pick the ball up. But in general, if you’ve got a side screen, you can get away with it.
Rogers is also colourblind and delved into what it was like to play with the visual impairment at the top level
‘Once that pink ball came along, I was no good with it.’
Asked how he was with the white ball: ‘It was OK, but yeah, the red ball I managed to find a way.’
He then revealed who he thinks is going to open the batting in the Ashes.
‘Usman Khawaja, I think you’ll probably lock in,’ he said.
‘I dare say they might give Sam Konstas a bit of time back in the Sheffield Shield and find someone else. But I’ve seen Ricky Ponting say Konstas. It’s pretty hard to go against that, but it’s a bit of a lottery at the moment.’
