A young cricketer suffered a suspected heart attack while training at Williamstown on Sunday morning.
Williamstown Cricket Club secretary Jordan Doyle said the 24-year-old had been bowling seconds before the attack.
He said teammates called an ambulance and performed CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
“We rang an ambulance straight away and one player was on the phone to the ambulance and they were talking him through the CPR and another player was performing it,” he said.
The man was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition. Since then, he has improved to ‘serious’.
Mr Doyle said the man joined the club about a month ago after moving to the area from Phillip Island.
It’s understood he had no known history of a heart condition.
“You don’t expect someone so young to have something so horrible go wrong, especially a fit and healthy young man,” Mr Doyle said.
“It was devastating for everyone involved and, obviously, we just hope he’s going to be OK. We pass on our best wishes to his family.
“Club members responded well and we’re proud of their efforts on Sunday.”
Residents have rallied to support the cricketer and his family, and have praised the man’s teammates for performing CPR.
While the club has a defibrillator, it was in the clubrooms some distance from the nets where the man collapsed.
