Ex-skin cancer patient Clarke urges cricket fans not to sit shirtless in stands

SYDNEY - Australian cricket team vice-captain Michael Clarke, who has had three non-melanoma skin cancers removed from his face, has advised cricket fans sitting shirtless in the stands to cover up as a preventive measure against the disease.

“I hope they’re sitting near me, I hope I’ll be fielding on the boundary,” News.com.au quoted Clarke, as saying to reporters, suggesting that he could also deliver the message personally.

“Coming to the cricket is a wonderful thing … and I don’t think we’re saying don’t enjoy some time in the sun, but when you’re out there, I think prevention is very important, he said, adding, “A lot of the people who come and support our game will have a hat on, and will have sunscreen on, and the more people we can get covering up, is very important.”

And, in a major concession ahead of the Ashes series, Clarke also said, “I would hate for anybody to get sunburn- even England”.

Speaking in Sydney at the launch of the latest research commissioned by Cancer Council Australia, which probed views on cancer that claims 1700 Australian lives every year, the cricketer said, “I wear sunscreen every day, I field in a long-sleeve shirt, I’m always wearing a cap and sunglasses,” adding that he was the sun safety enforcer for the Australian team.

The research found that in the past twelve months, 40 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women did not check their own skin for suspicious mole activity, or have a GP or loved one do it for them.

It also discovered that more than three million Australians (23 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women) rarely, or never, use sun protection while outdoors in the summer sun.

Australia has one of the highest incidences of skin cancer in the world, at nearly four times the disease rates in Canada, the US and the UK. (ANI)