Sir Geoffrey Boycott unable to eat or drink with pneumonia after cancer operation

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Sir Geoffrey Boycott has been left unable to eat or drink since developing pneumonia just days after undergoing a cancer operation.

The cricket legend, 83, was readmitted to hospital on Sunday after developing the illness following a successful operation to remove a tumour from his throat five days earlier.

Following the three-hour operation, the surgeon reported it “went well” and he was discharged on Friday with “lots of pain meds”, his daughter Emma Boycott said.

But in in a brief statement released on Sunday, his family said: “Thank you all for the well wishes, we’ve been blown away by the sheer number of them.

“Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse and my father has developed pneumonia and is unable to eat or drink so is back in hospital on oxygen and a feeding tube for the foreseeable.”

Sir Geoffrey revealed earlier in July he had received a second cancer diagnosis after he underwent extensive chemotherapy 22 years ago.

He also had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2018, which he said was a factor in his decision to step away from commentating, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

The former Yorkshire and England batter scored 8,114 runs in 108 Tests for his country, including 22 centuries, at an average of 47.72 and amassed 48,426 first-class runs in total across two decades.

When his international career ended he was the leading Test run scorer and was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket.

He spent decades working on the BBC’s Test Match Special after retiring as a player in 1986 before stepping down from his pundit role in 2020.