Boycott on the mend

Geoffrey Boycott has revealed that he is close to returning to work following his successful battle to overcome throat cancer.

Boycott, 63, was diagnosed last autumn with cancer and immediately started a course of intensive chemotherapy which led to him losing over 35lbs (16 kgs). At one point, Boycott was having five chemo sessions a day, and he was so weak that he had to be fed by having nutrients pumped into his stomach.

In January he was told that the primary cancer, and two secondary growths which were subsequently discovered, had responded to treatment, and in April he married Rachael Swinglehurst, the mother of his daughter, Emma. "I don't know what I would have done without her," Boycott told the Daily Telegraph. "She has been a tower of strength."

Robin Smith, the Yorkshire president, told the newspaper that he had been in regular touch with Boycott. "Geoffrey's very much back to his old self and, when I last spoke to him, the only difference I could notice is that his voice is a little gruffer, which is hardly surprising given what he has been through," said Smith. "He has to continue seeing his oncologist on a regular basis but the signs are that he may be able to return to work in a couple of months or so."