Ponting embarrassed after retiring hurt

Melbourne:

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has admitted that he felt embarrassed after being forced to retire hurt for the first time in his 14-year long career.

Ponting was hit just above his left elbow by paceman Kemar Roach on the opening day of the third Test against the West Indies at the WACA Ground in Perth, yesterday.

Soon after arriving at the crease, he suffered that nasty blow but continued batting before retiring hurt on 23.

"I was pretty embarrassed walking off the ground yesterday but I had to do what I had to do with the game in the position that it was, and me not wanting to get in the way of our momentum in the game," Ponting told ABC radio.

"I could have kept batting yesterday but I just wouldn't have been able to hit the ball off the square pretty much, so that was why I decided to come off," he added.

Ponting said he decided to walk off as it was best for his team and teammates.

"(It hit me) on the outside of the elbow, right on the end of the bone, where a lot of the tendons and muscles actually join on.

"It was okay for the first five or 10 minutes after it happened but it kept getting worse from there and it got to the stage where I couldn't function properly.

"I don't want to be batting when there's other guys out there who can play better than me at the time so that's why I decided to come off and get as much treatment as I could," he explained.