Australian sports fans are in uproar over Channel Seven's two-word description of cricket great Ricky Ponting.
Sunrise host Matt Doran introduced Ponting on Saturday to a live cross from Perth for a recap of day two and a preview of day three for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan.
But viewers soon noticed that Ponting was described below his name at the bottom of the screen as 'former cricketer'.
Many disagreed with the flat description as Ponting is one of Australia's best batsmen.
“Former cricketer” is the best Channel 7 can do to describe their best commentator,” wrote one upset fan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
'Arguably our best batsman since Bradman is tagged as a guy who played seven mediocre Shield games in the 80s. Come on (Channel) 7,” said AAP sports journalist Oliver Caffrey.
Australian sports fans were shocked by Channel Seven's lackluster introduction of cricket great Ricky Ponting as a 'former cricketer' (above)
Social media platform X was flooded with outraged responses from Ponting's fans (one above) over the flat description
“Of all the things they could have labeled him, that's what they ended up with,” Triple M's Josh Conway said.
Others joked that because the network's description was so vague, they could have appeared on screen with the same name instead of the professional cricketer.
“I could be standing there with the same title and five seasons of junior cricket under my belt,” one person wrote.
“Just a nice gambler would have been better,” said another.
Ponting is regarded as Australia's second-best batsman after Sir Donald Bradman, with 41 Test centuries.
He is also Australia's most successful captain with 164 wins to his name during his ten-year spell in the role from 2002-2012.
Ponting (pictured with wife Rianna) is Australia's second-best batsman after Sir Donald Bradman and the most successful captain of the national team