Hadlee on cancer, stats and cars

SPORT

Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand’s greatest cricketer, is digging in for the battle to dismiss his toughest foe.

Hadlee has revealed, in a telling interview with former national team-mate Ian Smith in the second instalment of Sky Sport’s The Pod series last night that the cancer he was diagnosed with in 2018 remains a major concern.

In an entertaining chat between two of the standout figures in a golden era for New Zealand cricket, Hadlee opens up on his health battle that saw him undergo two surgeries in 2018, as well as chemotherapy treatment, after being diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer.

The legendary right-arm fast bowler and dashing left-hand lower-order bat told Smith that the treatments appear to have gone well but admits, as the renowned numbers man he was during his career, that he does not feel he is out of the woods yet.

‘‘I finished my chemo just over a year ago now towards the end of January and the body has been recovering since,’’ Hadlee said.

‘‘At the moment I feel very, very good, and have done for a good year and a bit. The weight’s back on, I think I’ve got my sense of humour back and things are good.’’

But Hadlee said statistical realities keep him on edge as he lives with the knowledge the cancer could return.

‘‘With the diagnosis of stage 4 colorectal [cancer] I was given the news I’ve got a 50 percent chance of surviving five years

. . . well, I’m two years into that five, so the next 12-24 months are still quite critical because if anything comes back – the thought of going through the whole process again is not one I would relish.’’

Then Hadlee, the first man to 400 wickets in tests, showed indeed that that sense of humour had made it through his ordeal.

‘‘So, being the stats man I am, I’d like to try and beat those odds and be on the right side of 50 per cent,’’ he said.