NZ great Hadlee set for further surgery

Legendary former New Zealand allrounder Sir Richard Hadlee is set to undergo surgery this week after secondary cancer was discovered in his liver.

Hadlee, who turned 67 earlier this month, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in May after a tumour was found during a routine colonoscopy, undergoing a successful operation to have it removed.

But his wife Lady Dianne Hadlee confirmed in a statement on Monday that another bout of surgery is required this week for the liver cancer before further chemotherapy.

"Medical advice is that it's still at a very early stage and is operable," the statement read.

"Once he has recovered from the operation, Richard will undergo further chemotherapy treatment.

"As with the first statement released on this matter, we disclose these details solely in the interests of transparency, and to avoid speculation and gossip.

"We would again ask that people respect our request for privacy."

Unquestionably the Black Caps' greatest-ever cricketer, Hadlee was a colossus in the game throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and was the first man to take 400 Test wickets.

He played his final Test in 1990, and took a wicket with his last delivery. Only spin pair Muthiah Muralidaran and Shane Warne have taken more than his nine 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket.

Perhaps his most famous performance occurred in Brisbane in 1985-86; his return of 9-52 in the first innings at the Gabba remains the best bowling by any player – home-grown or visiting – in a Test played in Australia.

Complemented by 6-71 in the second dig, his match return stands similarly unsurpassed across 141 years of Tests in Australia, and when coupled with the half-century he contributed with the bat he is the only cricketer to claim 15 wickets and score 50-plus in a single match.

Throw in a couple of catches, and Hadlee's domination of the match is deservedly recalled as the defining feature of his nation's first Test win in Australia.

And with a return of 33 wickets at 12.15 (again, unrivalled in a three-Test series in Australia) he was the undisputed star of NZ's breakthrough 2-1 triumph, their one and only success on the far side of the Tasman in 12 campaigns to date.