Australian cricket legend Ian Chappell has revealed his ongoing battle with cancer after spending years in the sun playing for the country.
The former captain opened up about his health scare to The Daily Telegraph this week, explaining he has undergone five weeks of intense radiation therapy and had skin cancers removed from his shoulder, neck and under his arm.
According to the publication Chappell had a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cut off his shoulder late last year but sadly the cancer spread to the two nearest lymph nodes causing concern for doctors who decided to launch into treatment straight away.
Thankfully it seems the treatment has worked with pathology reports so far coming back clear with the 75-year-old set to receive a full run down of his condition on Monday.
Speaking about his condition the cricket great said he didn’t want to tell anyone straight away as he wasn’t sure what state he’d be in. But rest assured, Chappell revealed he is feeling “pretty good” and ready to get back into his commentating duties.
The cricket star said he’s had that many skin cancers removed over the years he didn’t think much of it at the time but after seeing his mum “come to grips” with death knew he had to get on top of it.
“When you hit 70 you feel (vulnerable) anyhow, but I guess I’ve got so used to bloody skin cancers over the years and the fact that none of them have been melanomas, probably provides a bit of comfort,” he explained to The Daily Telegraph. “It may be naivety on my part.”
Chappell added: “You get to 70 and you start to think, ‘Christ, it’s getting near the end now.’ But I saw my mother, Jeanne near the end and she’d come to grips with death, and that’s probably when I thought, ‘shit, this is something you need to deal with.’
“Not that you’re trying to rush it, but when it comes you’re comfortable. I guess I’ve been in that mode for a while now, and when it happens you just say, ‘well, I’ve had a pretty good time and that’s it.”
The sportsman’s diagnosis comes after he opened up about the ball tampering scandal in South Africa involving Steve Smith and David Warner.
Speaking on Sports Sunday last year the commentator said the scandal had made him question is own standing within the cricket fans.
“On Sunday afternoon I went down to listen to a bit of music and have a drink, and I was walking along looking at people thinking, ‘Is this so-and-so going to call me a cheat?’ or ‘What are those cricketers doing?’” Chappell said at the time.
“I was feeling it and I’m 40 years removed from playing, so I was really feeling it.”