Former Australian cricketer and Test captain Ian Chappell has been battling with skin cancer. The 75-year-old has reportedly finished six weeks of intensive radiotherapy after having carcinomas removed from his shoulder, armpit and neck.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Chappell, who captained the Australian Test Cricket side from 1971 to 1975, is about to receive a detailed report from his specialists on Monday.
The former cricketer told the Daily Telegraph, “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. It may be naivety on my part.”
Chappell added, “I’ve had multiple skin cancers cut off, burnt off and every other way you can get rid of them.”
He continued, “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, ‘s**t, this is something you need to deal with’. Not that you’re trying to rush it, but when it comes you’re comfortable.”
Chappell, a test cricket legend who used to play like his idol Richie Benaud, admitted that he had had some cancers removed from his chest.
The cricket great said, “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. When Richie and Tony (Nine commentary comrades Richie Benaud and Tony Greig) went … again, it was just a reminder that it happens to everybody.”
Chappell said he has kept his skin cancer battle quiet as he was not aware what radiation therapy would be like; however, he said he is ready to rejoin the Nine Network’s commentary panel for the upcoming Ashes series starting from August 1. The cricket great said, “I told family and gradually a couple of my teammates and I’ve been getting calls from them pretty regularly which is nice. With the Ashes coming up now, I’ll speak to Nine and just say, ‘look, I’m ready to go if you need me.’”
