Former Australia captain and now television commentator, Ian Chappell has revealed that he has been diagnosed with skin cancer. The 75-year-old, however, did mention that he has been undergoing an intense radiotherapy for the illness and the prognosis has been positive thus far.
Speaking about the illness on Thursday, Chappell said that he has just completed five weeks of intense radiation therapy and has cancers removed from shoulder, neck and underarm.
"It may be naivety on my part. I’ve had multiple skin cancers cut off, burnt off and every other way you can get rid of them." Chappell told The Daily Telegraph.
"I didn't tell too many people early on. Mainly because I just wasn't sure what the radiotherapy would involve and how weary I'd be.
"But as it turned out, it wasn't so bad. A bit of tiredness at night and a bit of skin irritation, but other than that I'm feeling pretty good. I told family and gradually a couple of my team-mates and I've been getting calls from them pretty regularly which is nice.
And while he added his early reports are positive, he will be visiting a specialist on Monday. Having captained Australia between 1971 and 1975, Chappell scored 5345 Test runs at an average of 42.42 and said he is expecting to be fit again to commentate during the Ashes series in August.
"With the Ashes coming up now, I'll speak to Nine and just say, 'look, I'm ready to go if you need me."
Feature image courtesy: AFP / William West
