Carberry ton on return from cancer
NEW DELHI: Michael Carberry, who was diagnosed with cancer last year, marked his return to cricket with a century for his county side Hampshire on Sunday.
The 36-year-old southpaw made exactly 100 runs off 121 balls in Hampshire’s match against Cardiff University at the Rose Bowl.
His ton was peppered with 17 boundaries and came on the first day of the match. It helped stabilise his team’s order after they had a shaky start during which they dropped three wickets within the first 31 runs.
He was caught by Matthew Norris off the bowling of David O’Sullivan just after the lunch break and left the field to a standing ovation. The opener — who played six Test matches for England — last played a first-class match on July 8, 2016.
Having missed a game for his county because of illness, his announcement that he had a cancerous tumour shocked the world.
He immediately underwent treatment and had a successful operation.
He returned to action by joining Hampshire for preseason training in January and a tour of Barbados in March.
With his return to firstclass cricket all but confirmed last week, Carberry had issued a statement thanking everyone who had supported him during his battle with cancer.
“I would like to thank my family, the club, the supporters and my teammates worldwide for all the kind messages of support and love through another very tough time in my career and life. There is still a long way to go to being ‘recovered’ fully, but the outpour of support from the cricket family has helped massively in getting me back playing, and I’m looking forward to another great summer with Hampshire,” Carberry had said last Tuesday. He had previously suffered blood clots on his lung in 2011 which caused him to miss the start of the domestic season then. Carberry is expected to play Hampshire’s first County Championship match of the upcoming season this week. The county side begin their Division One campaign against Yorkshire on Friday.