Sir Geoffrey Boycott reveals cancer diagnosis

Sir Geoffrey Boycott has been diagnosed with throat cancer for the second time and is to undergo surgery to treat the illness.

Boycott, the former England batsman, was told last week that the cancer had returned more than 20 years after he was treated for the illness with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“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,” he told Telegraph Sport. 

“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, 83, is to undergo an operation to remove the cancer in two weeks’ time and hopes this time he will not need to endure debilitating radio and chemotherapy sessions.

The Yorkshire cricketing legend was first diagnosed with the disease aged 62 in 2002 and was told he had three months to live if he did not immediately have treatment. He underwent 35 chemo sessions and was nursed back to health with the support of his wife, Rachael, and daughter Emma. 

“I can tell you that being given three months to live is a real show-stopper,” he wrote in his book, The Corridor of Certainty. “I will never know why I am still alive. The only thing I really do know for certain is I would not have survived without my wife Rachael being there for me.”

Boycott would employ his famous concentration skills to help him cope with the gruelling chemotherapy sessions, which saw him lose 10lb in one week, and radiotherapy laser treatment that left terrible burns on his neck. The tumour was the size of a 50p coin.

He wrote: “In one-day cricket I used to count my runs, how many an over we needed to win and whether we were above or below the asking rate. I went about it in exactly the same way when I had treatment. I would count each and every one until we got to the halfway mark.”

He turned to alternative therapies for treatment, becoming an advocate of Feng Shui. “I was open to anything, just trying to find things to help me stay alive,” he wrote.

Boycott scored 151 first-class centuries in a glittering playing career for England and Yorkshire that spanned 25 years. He played 108 Tests for England, retiring in 1982. Since the end of his playing days he has built a career as one of the game’s most strident and respected pundits on television and radio. 

He retired from the BBC Test Match Special in 2020 after 14 years working for the corporation. 

He continues to contribute exclusive columns for Telegraph Sport and intends to write on the first Test against West Indies next week before having surgery.