Bundaberg (Australia), Feb 27 (IANS): Legendary Australia cricketer Rod Marsh is in 'the fight of his life' after being put in an induced coma following a major heart attack on Thursday, said his family. Marsh, 74, was taken to the Bundaberg Hospital while on his way to attending an event for the Bulls Masters charity group.

Now, in a statement released on Sunday, his son Paul said, "On behalf of my mother Ros and brothers Dan and Jamie, I wanted to provide an update on dad's condition. He is currently in the fight of his life and remains in an induced coma in critical condition. At the moment this is a waiting game and we are unlikely to have any certainty for some time.

"We know there is a lot of interest in Dad's condition and our family has been overwhelmed by the messages of love and support from all around the world. We have listened to and read every one of them and we are incredibly grateful to everyone. Dad would not still be here without the bravery and quick thinking of Dave Hillier and John Glanville. We will be eternally grateful to both of them.

"We also want to thank the Bulls Masters team, and in particular Jimmy Maher, Darren Lehmann, Ian Healy and Allan Border, whose love and care for our family has been extraordinary. The team at the Australian Cricketers' Association have also been incredible and we'd like to thank Todd Greenberg, Kelly Applebee and Justine Whipper for their support."

"We'd also like to thank the ICU team at Bundaberg Hospital for their outstanding care and support. We will provide further updates once we have them, and in the meantime, we ask media to respect our family's privacy as we focus on helping Dad fight this battle," concluded the statement.

Marsh played 96 Tests and 92 ODIs for Australia from 1970 to 1984, scoring 3633 and 1225 runs respectively. He also once held the world record for 355 wicketkeeping dismissals. After his playing days, Marsh served as chairman of selectors of Australia men's team from 2014 to 2016.