Former Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh suffers heart attack

Melbourne: Former Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh was rushed to hospital on Thursday after suffering a heart attack, Australian media reported.

Marsh, who played 96 Tests and 92 One-Day Internationals, had the heart attack when being driven in a car to a hotel in Bundaberg soon after landing in the city in northern Queensland state, the Daily Telegraph said.

Marsh, 74, was in Bundaberg for a charity cricket match for Bulls Masters, a local non-profit organisation.

Two officials from Bulls Masters were in the car with Marsh and drove him to a Bundaberg hospital, the paper quoted Bulls Masters boss Jimmy Maher as saying.

"(They) deserve so much credit because the doctor said if they had waited for an ambulance (Marsh) would not have made it," Maher told the paper.

"The medical staff at the Bundaberg Hospital were wonderful. We are all shocked. It’s terrible."

The paper said doctors at the hospital had saved Marsh's life.

Regarded as one of Australia's finest wicketkeepers, Marsh retired in 1984 with a then-world record tally of 355 dismissals.

He is third on Australia's all-time dismissals list behind Adam Gilchrist (416) and Ian Healy (395).

Marsh later became a selector for Australia's national teams before retiring from the role in 2016.