Chris Cairns diagnosed with bowel cancer, former New Zealand cricketer prepares for long battle

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Auckland, February 5: Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns on Saturday (February 5) has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. Cairns confirmed this on Instagram.

Just one week earlier, he was discharged from the hospital in Canberra following a heart attack and paraplegia.

"As far as weeks go, I thought that Tom Brady retiring was going to be the low point this week... but as it turned out, TB12's retirement comes a distant second.

“I was told yesterday I have bowel cancer...big shock and not what I was expecting after what was supposed to be a routine checkup," Cairns wrote on Instagram.

“So, as I prepare for another round of conversations with surgeons and specialists, I keep remembering how lucky I am to be here in the first place...and how blessed I am to have all that I do in my life," he added.

Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 ODIs, and two T20Is for New Zealand between 1989 and 2006. The veteran all-rounder amassed 3,320 Test runs at an average of over 33 and took 218 wickets at an average of just over 29.

In ODIs, Cairns gathered 4,950 runs at 29.46 and took 201 wickets at 32.80.

Cairns was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the year in 2000, and is the son of former New Zealand all-rounder Lance Cairns.