Tragedy as England cricket legend Alec Stewart’s wife Lynn dies after 12-year breast cancer fight
ENGLAND legend Alec Stewart’s wife has died after a 12-year battle with breast cancer.
The ex-captain stepped down as Surrey’s Director of Cricket just months before Lynn died to spend more time with his family.
This morning at The Oval, where Surrey are playing Hampshire in the country championship, flags were flying at half-mast before the club chair Oli Slipper shared a heartfelt tribute.
He said: “The sincere condolences of everyone at Surrey County Cricket Club are with Alec and the whole Stewart family.
“Our very best wishes are with the family and we will continue to offer any support to them that we are able to.
“In the meantime, we ask that people respect their privacy at this difficult time.”
Stewart, 62, took a temporary leave of absence in 2023 to care for Lynn, saying that he wanted to give her and his family some more time.
He said: “Since November 2013, I have given this job my total commitment and it has been an honour and a privilege to be a part of the greatest cricket club in the world.
“However, the job is not one that you can just leave at the ground, as it demands 24/7 attention.
“As people may know, my wife has been battling cancer since 2013 and I want to give her, and my family, more of my time over the coming years than this job allows.”
In an interview last year, he mentioned his wife’s battle with secondary breast cancer and that she was undergoing chemotherapy.
He told the Telegraph in October: “There are bits and pieces that have crept up recently. It’s never going away. It’s managing it.
“That is, there are some goodish times, and then the last four weeks have been tough for her. And then it’s just putting faith in the oncologist we’ve had from day one, who’s been brilliant.“
Last year he rejected an offer from England to become head selector and stayed at Surrey due to his personal circumstances, according to The Times.
Surrey won the County Championship in 2022, the second time they had done so with Stewart as Director of Cricket.
The sports legend also tragically lost his friend and former team-mate Graham Thorpe last year.
Stewart and Thorpe pair played together for England and Surrey and became close friends over the years.
The dad-of-four took his own life aged 55 in August following a battle with depression, his wife Amanda revealed.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Stewart said: “It’s so difficult to sort of get my words right on this.
“It was always going to be when, not if this would happen because it had gone on for so long, and the amount of help that had come his way, and so many people were trying to help, but you’ve got to help yourself in the end. And he just didn’t want to.
“And this is the way I’ve tried to look at it, is that we’re all very sad and upset we’ve lost a great person, but wherever he is now, he’s got to be happier because he wasn’t happy here.
“And that’s how I’ve tried to sort of deal with it, in that we’ve been selfish by being upset that Thorpey is not with us, instead of thinking that he’s much happier now wherever he is looking down on us.”
In 2021, Alec Stewart led the tributes after Surrey academy star Joe Lunn died from a rare form of cancer.
The wicketkeeper-batsman, 19, had worked his way through the youth ranks at the county while also starring for Sutton CC.
Lunn passed away following a battle with synovial sarcoma and the ex-England star led the tributes, while sending his thoughts to Lunn’s family.
On the Surrey website, he wrote: “Whenever this happens it is an absolute tragedy.
“To hear of it happening to a member of our Surrey family has affected everyone at the club.
“We were all aware of the struggles that Joe was going through and did what we could to support him and his family.”
What are the signs of breast cancer?
Signs and symptoms
Stay alert to symptoms of breast cancer which include:
- A lump or swelling in the breast, upper chest or armpit
- A change to the skin, such as puckering or dimpling
- A change in the colour of the breast – the breast may look red or inflamed
- A nipple change, for example, it has become pulled in (inverted)
- Rash or crusting around the nipple
- Unusual liquid (discharge) from either nipple
- Changes in the size or shape of the breast
On its own, pain in your breasts is not usually a sign of breast cancer. But look out for pain in your breast or armpit that’s there all or almost all the time.
Although rare, men can get breast cancer. The most common symptom of breast cancer in men is a lump in the chest area.
Check your breasts
There’s no special way to check your breasts and you do not need any training. At Breast Cancer Now, they say, it’s as simple as TLC: Touch, Look, Check:
- Touch your breasts: can you feel anything new or unusual?
- Look for changes: does anything look different to you?
- Check any new or unusual changes with a GP