Clive Rice death anniversary: Cricketers who lost their battle with cancer

Its first death anniversary ofSouth Africas first captain of the postisolation era Clive Rice The former Proteas skipperand allrounder passed away on the morning of July 28 2015 after battling the Big CLets look at some of the famous cricketers who have fought hard but lost their battle with cancerCLIVE RICEFormer South African cricket captain Clive Rice Pic midday archiveClive Rice South Africas first cricket captain in the postapartheid era passed away after losing his battle with septicaemia a potentially life threatening infection in which large amounts of bacteria are present in the bloodThe former cricketer was suffering from a brain tumour Rice was the first postapartheid captain of South Africa and one of the stars of Nottinghamshire County side in the 1970s and 1980sRice who had been suffering from a brain tumour playedmost of his cricket during South Africas 20year isolationfrom the international gameHe was selected for a 197172 tour of Australia whichwas cancelled because of opposition to the South Africangovernments policy of apartheidWhen South Africa returned to the international fold inNovember 1991 Rice was appointed captain of a team whichplayed three oneday internationals ODIs in IndiaThe British daily The Telegraph in its obit called him Best cricketer who never played a Test The obit goes on to mention thatRice could have been bracketed with the four great allrounders of the 1980s ndash Ian Botham Richard Hadlee Imran Khan and Kapil Dev ndash if politics had allowedFRED TRUEMANFred TruemanFred Trueman died onJuly 1 2006 aged 75 after a battle with lung cancerThe Yorkshire and England fast bowler who has died of lung cancer aged 75 was arguably one of the greatest fast bowlers to have played the game and undeniably the most colourful cricketer to come out of England He was diagnosed with lung cancerHe played his first Test match at the age of 21 and established him as a national sporting hero in the 1950s and 60s Over 13 years he played only 67 times for England and took more Test wickets 307 and at a considerably lower average 2157 than any English bowler till then Nicknamed Fiery Fred his finest hour came at The Oval in 1964 when he became the first man to take 300 Test wicketsSIR RICHIE BENAUDAustralias Richie Benaud in 1960s PICGETTY IMAGESLegendary cricket commentator and great legspinner RichieBenauddiedin a Sydney hospice at the age of 84 on April 10 2015Benaud was an alltime great allrounder cricketer a crafty legspinner who captured 248 wickets in 63 Tests an attacking lowerorder batsman who hit one of the fastest Test centuries a brilliant gully fielder with amazing reflexes and a crowd puller wherever he playedHe was the first cricketer to achieve the Test double of 2000 runs and 200 wickets and as an allrounder ranks as one of the greatestMARTIN CROWENew Zealands Martin Crowe during his 115run knock in the third Test against England at Old Trafford in 1994 PicGetty ImagesFormer New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe has died of lymphoma aged 53 on March 3 2016Crowe was first diagnosed with aggressive follicular lymphoma in 2012 and after chemotherapy he was thought to be in remission But Crowe announced in September 2014 that the cancer which he called my friend and tough taskmaster had returnedCrowe played 77 tests and 143 oneday internationals for New Zealand in a 13year career He scored 5444 test runs at an average of 4536 with 17 centuriesCrowe has the second highest individual score in Tests by a New Zealand batsman with 299 Brendon McCullum is first During the 1992 World Cup Crowe was the leading run scorer as well as PlayerOfTheSeries Crowe was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985MALCOLM MARSHALLMalcolm Marshall made the 1983 Kanpur Test memorable for West IndiesMalcolm Marshalldied from colon cancer in Barbados on November 4 1999 aged 41Marshall was one of the greatest West Indies fast bowler of the 1970s1980s and 1990s He along with his West Indian contemporaries Joel Garner Curtly Ambrose Colin Croft formeda formidable quartet of fast bowlers He took 376 Test wickets at the remarkable average of 2094 the lowest bowling average of any bowler to take more than 200 Test wicketsMarshall played for the West Indies from 1976 to 1991 and held the record as its leading wicket taker until Courtney Walsh passed the mark in November 1998His achieved his bowling success despite being by the standards of other fast bowlers a short man ndash he stood at 5 feet 11 inchesHe was nicknamed WhisperingDeath by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling creaseMIKE DENNESSMike DennissMike Dennessdied of cancer on April 19 2013He was the only Scotsman ever to captain England leading the team in 19 of his 28 Tests between 1969 and 1975He also played 12 oneday internationals and went onto become an ICC match refereeDuring his time as an ICC match referee his controversial decision to sanction six Indian players in Port Elizabeth during the 20012002 tour prompted the Indian and South African boards to ban Denness from officiating in the next matchThe ICC responded by withdrawing Test status from the gameHis reign has England captain was marred by a strained relationship with Geoff Boycott then one of the teams star performersDuring the 197475 tour of Australia Denness dropped himself for the fourth Test after making just 65 runs in his first six innings But he returned to hit 188 in the Melbourne Test which at the time was the highest score by an England captain in AustraliaTONY GREIGTony GreigFormer England captain and commentator Tony Greig who was suffering from lung cancer died at the age of 66 on December 29 2012Greig a righthanded middleorder batsman and mediumfast seamer passed away at his home in Sydney after suffering a heart attackSouth Africanborn Greig played 58 Tests for England between 1972 and 1977 scoring 3599 runs with eight centuries at 4043 and captured 141 wickets at 3220 He captained England in 14 TestsHe also played 22 oneday internationals for EnglandGreig was instrumental in the formation of late Australian media tycoon Kerry Packers breakaway World Series Cricket contest staged from 197779 which sent shockwaves through the sportThe best performance of Greigs captaincy career came in 197677 when England toured India for a fiveTest seriesThe team had not won there for 15 years but went on to score one of their most convincing triumphs when they clinched the first three Tests by huge marginsGreig turned into a successful commentator following the end of his playing career in 1977 and was forthright with his views He was one of the most bitter critics of BCCIs opposition to the Decision Review SystemDAVID SHEPHERDDavid ShepherdDavid Shepherd died onOctober 27 2009 after a long battle with cancer at the age of68He was a genial man but was hardhitting when it came to batting for Gloucester Once he hit the ball so hard it knocked out a spectator reading a newspaper in the crowdHe scored a hundred on his county debutShepherd was to be given special dispensation by the ICC to umpire in an England Test at Lords as his final match but he turned down the opportunity in order to maintain the neutral umpiring policyThere is a statue dedicated to him near Lords Cricket Ground in LondonShepherd officiated in 172 ODIs including three consecutive World Cup finals and 92 Tests between 1983 and 2005 He was famous for his his jig when scores reached 111 or a multiple thereof Shepherd was appointed a firstclass umpire in 1981 and made his international debut at the 1983 World Cup