Hadlee has cancer surgery

The 66-year-old Hadlee, who is considered one of the finest fast bowlers of all time having retired in 1990 with 431 test wickets, had surgery after a routine checkup discovered a tumour. 

“This operation went extremely well and he has made an excellent recovery from surgery,” his wife Dianne said in a statement issued by New Zealand Cricket.

“As a safeguard, further treatment in the form of chemotherapy will commence shortly and last for a few months. It is expected that, in time, he will have a full recovery.” 

The right-arm fast bowler, who was the first player to take 400 test wickets and held the record for most wickets until India’s Kapil Dev surpassed it in 1994, was also a handy all-rounder scoring two test centuries.