PERTH, Australia (CMC) — Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting said he was “embarrassed” at having to abandon his innings after being struck a painful blow by West Indies speedster Kemar Roach on the opening day of the third Test on Wednesday.

The veteran top order batsman was forced to retire hurt for the first time in his career and said he took the decision to ensure he did not hamper his side’s progress at 175 for one.

“I was pretty embarrassed walking off the ground yesterday (Wednesday) 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 local radio here.

“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.

“I’ve got some different strapping and tape on it designed to take a lot of the load away from certain areas around the elbow joints.”

Scans showed no major damage but Ponting, unbeaten on 23, did not return to complete his innings as Australia piled up 520 for seven declared.

The right-hander, renowned as a fine player of pace bowling, was given a torrid working over by Roach in the first over he faced. He was also struck a fierce blow in the ribs from a short ball by Roach and though he carried on, the pain proved too much in the end.

“(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,” Ponting said.

“So I think that was why a lot of my muscles around my forearm went into a sort of spasm … and tightened up. 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.”