Chris Cowdrey, the former England captain, is recovering after suffering a heart attack last week while visiting a hospital to have stitches in his knee.

Cowdrey, 53, played six Tests and led his country once during the 1988 season against West Indies, along with three one-day internationals, and had a 16-year career with Kent.

"People always said I was lucky player - well if you're going to have a heart attack anywhere, then the middle of a hospital is probably it," Cowdrey said in a statement issued through the Professional Cricketers' Association. "I only went there to have three stitches in my knee. I suppose this is all about doing too much of what I shouldn't have been doing and not enough of what I should have been doing for the last 30 years.

"I hate letting people down, pulling out of dinners and speaking engagements is not my style but I hope everyone will understand that my priority is getting back to full health and that I have to take it easy."