Robin Jackman, the former England bowler and cricket commentator, has been diagnosed with cancer and faces seven weeks of radiotherapy. Jackman has already had two operations to remove malignant tumours from his vocal cords, South African broadcaster Supersport reported.

"It's not the prettiest, but I got it early and I'm confident I'll be fine," Jackman, 67, is reported to as saying. "I won't be in Australia, but I sure will be rooting for the Proteas." He has been advised four weeks' rest after the treatment and hopes to return to commentary early next year.

Jackman played four Tests and 15 ODIs for England, and was involved with Surrey for 16 seasons starting from 1966. Over the course of his lengthy domestic career, Jackman took more than 1400 first-class wickets and scored 5681 runs. He was born in India, grew up in England, but maintained close ties with South Africa, coaching and representing Rhodesia and Western Province over 11 seasons.

Perhaps the most famous incident of his international career was the cancelling of the Guyana Test in 1980-81, after the Guyana government denied him a visa citing his involvement with the then apartheid South Africa, and the English management chose to not yield to political pressure.

After retirement, Jackman took up media work, and has been a regular television commentator for international matches. His diagnosis comes less than a month after another former England cricketer and commentator, Tony Greig, revealed he was being treated for cancer. Last month, former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe was also diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer.