Geoffrey Boycott has been diagnosed with throat cancer for the second time and will undergo surgery, the England cricket great announced on Tuesday.
Boycott, 83, was told last week the cancer had returned, having been previously treated for the illness in 2002 with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The former opening batter is now set to have an operation to remove the cancer in two weeks’ time.
In a statement to Britain’s Daily Telegraph, for whom he is still a columnist, Boycott said: “In the last few weeks I have had an MRI scan, CT scan, a PET scan and two biopsies and it has now been confirmed I have throat cancer and will require an operation.
“From past experience I realise that to overcome cancer a second time I will need excellent medical treatment and quite a bit of luck and, even if the operation is successful, every cancer patient knows they have to live with the possibility of it returning. So I will just get on with it and hope for the best.”
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Boycott is one of a select group of cricketers to have scored 100 first-class hundreds.
For England, he scored more than 8000 runs in 108 Tests at an average of nearly 48.
Boycott also captained England in four Tests in 1978 in place of the injured Mike Brearley.
After his 24-year first-class career ended with Yorkshire sacking him in 1986, Boycott established himself as both a newspaper columnist and a noted broadcaster, developing a global fanbase.
He was a particularly popular figure in the Indian subcontinent. In 2020, his 14-year stint as a commentator on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special came to an end.
Boycott said at the time the quadruple heart bypass surgery he underwent in 2018, together with the coronavirus pandemic, were factors in his decision to end his BBC career.