One of New Zealand's greatest ever cricketers Martin Crowe has been diagnosed with Lymphoma.
The former national captain, who celebrated his 50th birthday last month, has requested privacy at this time.
"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, said
Crowe retired from international cricket in 1995 and is widely considered to be New Zealand's best ever batsman. He averaged a world class 45.46 from 77 Test matches and his 17 Test centuries is still a New Zealand record.
Crowe briefly flirted with making a comeback last year but that was derailed when he pulled a thigh muscle playing his first match for Cornwall's premier side.
Lymphoma is a type of cancer that begins in immune system cells called lymphocytes.