Desperate Julien Battling Cancer

Former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies Test cricketer Bernard Julien is fighting a grim battle against throat cancer, the Trinidad Express newspaper reported on Thursday.

Julien, who appeared in 24 Test matches for the West Indies, is now laid up in his $900 a month apartment in his Trinidad home battling the life threatening disease which was diagnosed almost a year ago.

The paper said the ambidextrous cricket was read the "riot act" by his doctors: "No more smoking and drinking...or else death."

Julien, who turns 55 on March 13, was quoted in the newspaper as saying he plans to win the battle. "I want to live. It is life you are talking about. I want to beat this thing. I am not giving up."

Cancer specialists have given the former cricketer a 90-93 per cent chance of making a full recovery, providing he takes his medication, and stops smoking and drinking.

Friends say Julien is desperately in need of financial assistance. He admitted that he "was not feeling too good and is out of cash" but pleaded: "Don't make it look that I am begging."

Prior to his illness, Julien was contracted as a Government coach, but had to quit because of persistent coughing and hoarseness and a lump under the throat. Medication did not help, but tests showed that he was suffering with cancer of the vocal cord.

According to the report, Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC) administrator Bryan Davis tried approaching the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) for help but lamented that not much was done.

The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC) and members of QPCC helped raise funds to cover initial medical expenses, and to pay rent owed to avoid Julien's eviction. Efforts are now being made to get some financial help from the Players County fund in England to which Julien made some contributions during his stint as a professional for Kent in the 1970s.