Tom Fell suffers setback in cancer fight
Wolverhampton cricketer Tom Fell has suffered a setback in his fight to overcome cancer and will undergo a course of chemotherapy.
The 22-year-old was Worcestershire's top run-scorer in the County Championship last season.
He was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the end of the 2015 campaign and underwent surgery in early October.
He was eventually given the green light to play grade cricket in Australia from early December and has had regular check-ups.
But after flying back to England earlier this week he underwent a CT scan which detected a small area of cancer in his lymph nodes.
Fell will miss Worcestershire's 11-day pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi which gets underway today.
He said: "It came as a complete shock because I did a blood test in Australia and that was all fine.
"I got back here, had the CT scan which detected a little bit of cancer in the lymph nodes that hadn't been there before.
"It is very small at the moment and they've got hold of it early but the only option now is to have the chemotherapy.
"I will have three sessions of chemo starting from the end of next week (March 11) and each cycle lasts three weeks. The third cycle ends about the middle of May.
"All being well, the understanding I was given was that, if I'm feeling okay, there is no reason why I can't be back up and running by June and hopefully playing again at that stage."
Fell added: "The important thing is to live your life, not mope about and get on with things. It is the best way to deal with it.
"You've got to stay positive and not feel sorry for yourself. If I react well, I might be able to still do certain things, do some training to keep fit, and head up to Worcester and be around the lads.
"I've had plenty of messages from the boys. I let them know this morning and everyone has come back with messages of support and phone calls.
"It's a shame I won't be on the plane with them to Abu Dhabi."
Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: "Obviously, we are absolutely gutted for Tom.
"He enjoyed his time in Perth and was desperately looking forward to the pre-season tour and the start of the season with the boys.
"However, his health is the most important thing to all of us here at Worcester and we wish him a speedy recovery towards getting back out on that cricket field."
