Kiwis greatest Batsman Martin Crowe suffering from cancer

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe had been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer. The diagnosis, New Zealand newspapers reported on Monday, was "very new" and Crowe's family was still coming to terms with it. No details have as yet been released of how serious or at what stage the cancer is.

"Understandably the family have a number of issues to confront over the next couple of weeks, the diagnosis is very new, the family is still in shock and obviously dealing with the understanding that life as they know it for the unforeseeable future is different," Louise Henderson, a close family friend and manager, was quoted as saying.

One of New Zealand's most celebrated batsmen, Crowe, 50, had played 77 Tests between 1982 and 1995, before he was forced to quit international cricket due to a bad knee. He had briefly attempted to return to competitive cricket last November, saying that he considered it a means of self-motivation and a tool to get fit, and also an opportunity to score the 392 runs he needs to tally 20,000 first-class runs. However, the attempt was aborted three balls into his first innings, as he pulled a thigh muscle while batting for Cornwall against Parnell in a club game.