LONDON, JULY 3: Geoffrey Boycott has been diagnosed with throat cancer for the second time and will undergo surgery, the England cricket great announced 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 batsman is now set to have an operation to remove the cancer in two weeks time.
In a statement to Britains 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."
Boycott is one of a select group of cricketers to have scored 100 first-class hundreds.
For England, he scored more than 8,000 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. —AFP
