South African seamer Wayne Parnell will undergo heart tests, after experiencing tightness in his chest – and an abnormally fast pulse.
Parnell is currently in the United Kingdom, playing for Kent – and bowled just four overs in Tuesday’s Royal London One-Day Cup fixture against Somerset before leaving the field due to the ailment.
“Wayne left the field during Tuesday’s match at Taunton, as he was feeling unwell. He wanted to return to the field after examination by the club’s medical staff, but did not as a precaution,” Kent communications manager Thomas Brown told Club Cricket SA.
“In consultation with doctors at Cricket South Africa, Wayne will receive further check-ups.”
The 27-year-old has a history of heart-related problems – and suffered a similar scare while playing for South Africa A against India A three years ago.
“Wayne had some discomfort in the chest and he was found to have had an irregular heartbeat,” team manager South Africa manager, doctor Mohammed Moosajee, told Cricinfo at the time.
“At the moment, the tests have found that he has settled down and now it’s just about discovering what’s wrong.”
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson feared he was suffering a heart attack in October 2006, but was ultimately battling a severe case of gastritis.
Watson’s former Tasmania team-mate Scott Mason had died from a heart attack, at the age of 28, 18 months prior.
“We’d had a team meeting and I went back to bed for an hour or so before we were leaving to go to training,” Watson told The Age.
“I just started to get really bad pains in my chest and it gradually got worse and worse. The things that were going through my head were that my dad has already had a triple heart bypass, so I was hoping my heart was right.
“I was also thinking about my mate, Scott. I’d never had chest pains before, so I didn’t know what it was. After Scott had his heart operation, I thought that everything would be fine with him as well, like it was with dad.”