Former Australia captain Michael Clarke discussed his ongoing battle with skin cancer and said that he had lately had “a number of cut outs” on his face, including one off his nose.
On “The Kyle and Jackie O,” Clarke said that he receives treatment from a dermatologist every six months.
“I’ve got a number cut outs of my face. I had one about four weeks ago off my nose. I see my dermatologist every six months,” Clarke said.
“The sunspots I get frozen. Normally, if they’re basal cell I get them cut out. I think I’ve had seven cut out of my face. You can’t hide them.”
Clarke announced his diagnosis of a skin cancer recurrence on social media in August.
When doctors treated the legendary Australian batsman for suspected facial spots in 2006, he had a skin cancer scare. He had the spots on his face and chest surgically removed right away.
Later in life, Clarke had surgery to remove malignant growths from his forehead and chest.
He had previously claimed that his prolonged exposure to the sun while playing cricket was the cause of his skin cancer risk.
“I am not surprised that a lot of cricketers have had skin cancers because you spend a lot of time in the sun,” Clarke had told ‘Daily Telegraph’ in 2023.
“Imagine fielding all day in India, out there for eight hours in the sun, a lot of the guys are wearing the baggy green cap so you are not protecting your ears or your face, you’ve got short sleeved shirts so your arms and the tops of your hands.”
“I have been in the sun my entire career. I’ve always been disciplined with putting sunscreen on, my parents were too. The part I guess I haven’t been disciplined with was reapplying. All through my career I put sunscreen on but you sweat it off,” he had said.
Clarke had an incredible career, playing in 115 Tests, 245 ODIs, and 34 T20Is and accumulating more than 17,000 runs in all formats. Prior to retirement, he guided Australia to the 2015 World Cup title.
