As he goes in to bat against his toughest opponent, Allan Lamb has turned to his tried and tested motto. ‘When in doubt, attack,’ says the England legend.
‘That’s the way I played my cricket and that is exactly how I am treating this. Once you go on the defensive, you can get out. You can get out attacking, too, but I’d rather go that way than be a defender.’
For Lamb, the opponent he is facing this time is not Malcolm Marshall or Dennis Lillee but prostate cancer. The 67-year-old is sitting with Sportsmail in the week he publicly announced his diagnosis and his phone does not stop ringing during the course of our hour-long chat.
Allan Lamb wants to raise awareness about a condition that affects one in eight men
‘It’s fantastic to see that so many people care about you,’ admits Lamb, who has just finished a session of radiotherapy before he meets us in his private members’ club in Mayfair, London. ‘You don't even know how many friends you have out there.
‘Elton John called me yesterday to wish me all the luck and we had a long chat. Piers Morgan, Beefy (Ian Botham), David Gower. Loads of my cricketing friends. The England team have been brilliant. I’ve been gobsmacked by all of the support.’
Lamb did not make his cancer public just to be reminded of his popularity, however. He wants to raise awareness about a condition that affects one in eight men and was the cause of his great mate Bob Willis’ death two years ago.
‘You don't usually want to put stuff on social media about your health but I think it's so important,’ admits the two-time Ashes winner, who hit 14 Test centuries in 79 games from 1982 to 1992.
‘If I can save lives and get the awareness out to people, then I'm all for it. I don't mind telling people what's wrong with me.
Players past and present including Ian Botham have been in touch to offer their support
‘We lost Bob Willis and he was quite embarrassed about it and he kept it very quiet. My advice to all men over 50 is to go and have a check-up. Otherwise we are going to lose too many people.’
Lamb was diagnosed himself in September after a blood test found his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels had risen. He was referred to a specialist, who carried out a biopsy, and he received the devastating news while on holiday in France.
‘It was a funny feeling,’ recalls Lamb. ‘I thought I'd get it because so many of my mates had been getting it, but I still felt a bit numb.
‘My wife Lindsay took it worse because she had already had breast cancer. She was all worried that this was a killer and I was going to die.’
However, this diminutive batsman, who stood up to the West Indian fast bowling giants of the 1980s, is not going to start ducking now.
