From World Cup to walking with limp – the story of Nathan Bracken

Sydney: He is 37, tall and sturdy, also a part of Australia’s World Cup winning squad of 2007. But he doesn’t run in like he used to with a portion of his hair falling on his side-face. Nathan Bracken – Australia’s one-time chocolate boy who lifted the trophy with Ricky Ponting once – has been watching his team play, this time, from his drawing room.

Bracken fell out with Cricket Australia over the issue of protection of cricketers whose careers are marred with injuries. He was forced to retire in 2011 after a knee injury. Since then, he is fighting for the non-existent insurance cover for contracted players.

Read: Ricky Ponting named head coach of Mumbai Indians

Bracken is supposed to meet his former employer in the New South Wales Supreme Court later this year. So does he still watch cricket?

“It is not an easy thing to do,” he told Sydney Morning Herald.

"I cannot sit and watch a whole World Cup game. I'll watch bits and pieces. But then I leave the room … because I can't watch anymore. It's too painful,” he added.

Haley, his wife, said: “It breaks my heart because I see the look on his face as he's watching it. He desperately would love to stay involved. He has done nothing wrong. But cricket has wiped its hands of him."

Bracken – who made his Test debut in 2003 against India in Brisbane – turned out to be a One Day specialist later on. He was also world number one at one point. He expected Cricket Australia to take care of his surgery and treatment but that did not happen.

WC 2015: Mahendra Singh Dhoni inches closer to Ricky Ponting’s record

He tried to derive support from colleagues but that didn’t happen either. It seemed others were afraid to question the authority.

In 2015, Bracken walks with a limp and is not even able to play with his kids because of the lack of insurance cover when he needed. He and his wife are planning to sue Cricket Australia for the costs incurred.

(Nathan Bracken with family, Photo: Twitter)

“We had a property we were going to build a house on when Nathan retired… we've sold that. We've sold two cars to consolidate. Now we face losing our house out of the court case,” added Haley.