Sam Billings (pictured in 2015) says that, like most young people, he had a rather jaded attitude towards wearing sunscreen cream. : Getty Images/Gareth Copley
Sam Billings was touring Australia with England last November when he took off his shirt to change after a workout. A longtime teammate looked at his upper chest and asked incredulously, «What is that?»
There was a six-inch scar across his chest, evidence of the second of two surgeries he had. , a little over two weeks ago to remove malignant melanoma skin cancer. “I completely forgot he was there,” the 31-year-old says over coffee with Telegraph Sport. “But I still had stitches and they were pretty bloody, still bloody and healing. I think the boys were in shock.”
Before his miss, Billings had planned to keep a few traumatic weeks for himself, knowing that every player fights off-pitch battles of one kind or another. He was deemed fit to play and didn't want to turn down the chance to face the Australians.
But six months later, fit and healthy after a cricket-filled winter, he wants to tell his story, sharing a message for the cricket community and British society at large: take protecting your skin seriously.
Billings played three Tests, 28 One-Day Internationals and 37 T20s for England. Photo: Getty Images/Stu Forster
He believes that at times he was part of British culture, especially among men, «really jaded» about skin damage. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the world and is on the rise: the number of cases has doubled since the 1990s and is expected to double in the next 20 years. It kills twice as many men as women, but is 90% preventable.
“I was such a classic Brit overseas, like a 22-year-old blond guy in Australia thought it took a little bit of red to go brown,” he says with a smile. “At home you see it all the time: it reaches 12 degrees, it’s sunny, all the tops come off. I didn't think I'd be the guy with the damaged skin. I hope people see my story and think twice.”
This feeling of complacency probably extends to how Billings found out he had cancer. Late last summer, Kent arranged for skin cancer screenings for its players, as they and some other counties periodically do (not all counties offer this service, which is subsidized by the Professional Cricketers' Foundation).
Billings was present, but there was a queue and he was late for the meeting. It occurred to him that perhaps he could leave and come back another time. But Dan George, Kent's chief physiotherapist, sternly reminded him that being a little late to an appointment was a price worth paying.
When George and Billings sat drinking coffee outside Ashford Hospital two weeks later before the latter's second surgery , Captain Kent was extremely grateful for George's intervention.
“This is a whole body. screening where they look at every mole,” says Billings. “I had one mole on my chest, by no means the biggest mole on my body, which, according to Dr. Andy Birney, did not look good. They decided I needed to remove it so they could take a look at it.”
A couple of weeks passed until Billings received a phone call from the Birney administrator at Ashford Hospital on Monday evening at home in London, saying that he must cancel all plans and come the next morning for an appointment at 8.30. p>
Billngs chose to play PSL rather than carry drinks for England in Bangladesh as a direct result of his skin cancer changing his mindset Credit: Getty Images/Arif Ali
“I didn’t sleep well that night,” he says. “Andy told me this morning that I have a 0.6mm melanoma. The threshold for when this gets really serious is 0.7mm, so very close. If I had left this screening to go to the meeting and waited until the next six months, things could have been much more serious. The fields are so small, but can have huge consequences.”
Billings was told that he would have free time at 1:00 pm to remove a five-inch strip around where the mole had been. “I joked that I want all the chest I can get,” he says. He had plenty of time to call his fiancée and have coffee with George before facing a grueling operation under local anesthesia: “I could look inside my own breasts, which was not very nice. At some point, the anesthesia did not work, and I was in a lot of pain. But that night I was at home to start my recovery.”
'Psychologically it was definitely harder than physically'
Given that he played for England in Australia shortly after, this recovery did not take long, but was exhausting. “I never realized how much your breasts affect everything else,” he says. “Just moving my arm was very painful.” A week or two on the couch followed, which wasn't easy for one of the busiest characters in the game. “Psychologically it was definitely harder than physically,” he says.
This experience changed Billings both on and off the field, both in his outlook and habits. He believes this has made him a more caring captain, more aware that there is always a lot going on behind his players. It also influenced his decision this winter when he chose the Pakistan Super League and its guaranteed cricket over a trip to Bangladesh with England.
'It made me a lot more empathetic'
“It gave me the clarity to make decisions based on what I want to do and not just follow the line and see that I am doing the right thing,” he says. “I have been trying to do this for many years and sometimes it has resulted in me wearing drinks. You understand that cricket is not everything. This is very important, but you have to keep things in perspective. It also made me more empathetic.”
But more than anything, it motivated Billings to crusade. Personally, this means being “much more diligent in terms of prevention.” This is not only more regular application of sunscreen, but also the addition of quarterly check-ups with a doctor by checking yourself for moles. “It's about knowing what you're looking for,” he says. «Something asymmetrical, not quite round, slightly discolored.»
While abroad, Billings called Rob Lynch, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers Association, to tell his story, ask what the body of the players in this department does, and offer his services to help colleagues. Coincidentally, he came close to a partnership with LifeJacket Skin Protection, a company founded by young professionals with cancer who make skin protection products but are also interested in raising awareness of the disease.
LifeJacket The Skin Protection Study, published in Skin Cancer Awareness Month this May, shows the extent of the problem in the UK: British adults burned their skin an average of 15 times, one in 20 never protected their skin with sunscreen, and only one in five had their skin checked for cancer. Billings is well aware that cricketers are particularly at risk.
“I'm not just talking about the professional game,” he says. “These are club cricketers, people who watch the game. I recently played Lord's and the sun came out even though it wasn't 25 degrees. Maybe you were only 18, but you can still get sunburnt. We treat it [putting on sunscreen] like a chore because the education involved is not as good as it is in countries like Australia. I would like everyone in cricket to work together: the sun is out, so let's protect ourselves.»
More about PCA LifeJacket Skin Protection Partners: lifejacketskin.com
Свежие комментарии