Damien Martyn is awake and talking, one week after being placed into an induced coma in a Gold Coast hospital with meningitis. The 54-year-old has been able to talk with friends and family, including ex-teammate Adam Gilchrist, and is said to be overwhelmed with the support offered.

“It’s been an unbelievable turn of events in the last 48 hours,” Gilchrist said in a statement.

“He is now able to talk and respond to treatment. He has responded extraordinarily well since coming out of the coma to the point where his family feels it’s like some sort of miracle.

“It has been so positive that they’re hopeful he will be able to move out of the ICU into another part of the hospital which is representative of what a great recovery it’s been and how quickly it has flipped around.”

Martyn, a graceful right-handed batter who has played 67 Tests, fell ill suddenly late last month and was rushed to a Gold Coast hospital, where he remains.

As recently as Christmas Eve, Martyn had been posting on social media about the ongoing Ashes series, before falling ill with meningitis – an infection and swelling of fluid and membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

Gilchrist, VVS Laxman and Michael Vaughan were among the cricket icons to send him their best wishes.

“He’s in good spirits and overwhelmed by the support. There is still some treatment and monitoring to go but it’s looking positive,” Gilchrist said.

“His wife Amanda just really wants to say to everyone she is convinced that the love, goodwill and sense of care that they felt from everybody, via messages and via the coverage in the press really helped him,” he said. “They just feel blessed so many people have wanted to support him in his time [of] need.

“He will remain in hospital and continue to receive treatment but the turnaround has been miraculous.’’

Born in Darwin, Martyn earned a Test debut at 21, replacing Dean Jones in the 1992/93 home series against West Indies and was Western Australia’s captain at 23.

He played 208 ODIs, averaging 40.8 and scoring an unbeaten 88 runs as Australia defeated India in the final of the 2003 World Cup.

Martyn retired from Test cricket midway through the 2006/07 Ashes series, playing his final match at the Adelaide Oval that summer. He dabbled in commentary during retirement but has mostly kept out of the limelight in recent years.