Channel Seven is slammed for describing sporting great Ricky Ponting as a 'former cricketer' during live cross

Australian sports fans are up in arms over Channel Seven's two-word description of cricketing great Ricky Ponting.

Sunrise host Matt Doran introduced Ponting for a live cross from Perth on Saturday for a recap of Day Two and preview of Day Three for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan.

But viewers were quick to notice that at the bottom of the screen underneath his name, Ponting was described as 'Former cricketer'.

Many took issue with the flat description, given Ponting is one of Australia's best batsmen. 

'"Former cricketer" is the best Channel 7 can do to describe their best commentator,' one upset fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

'Arguably our best batter since Bradman gets tagged like a bloke who played seven mediocre Shield games in the 80s. C'mon [Channel] 7,' AAP sport journalist Oliver Caffrey commented.

'Out of all the things they could've labelled him, they land with that,' said Triple M's Josh Conway.

Others joked that because the network's description was so vague, they could have appeared on screen with the same moniker instead of the professional cricketer. 

'It could be me standing there with the same title with five seasons of junior cricket under my belt,' one wrote. 

'Just a nice "punter" would've been better,' another said. 

Ponting is considered to be Australia's second-best batsman behind Sir Donald Bradman, with 41 Test centuries.

He's also Australia's most successful captain with 164 victories under his belt from his 10-year run in the position from 2002-2012.