FORMER Kent and England batsman Brian Luckhurst is suffering from cancer of the oesophagus, the county club have confirmed.

Luckhurst, 65, was made Kent president this season to mark his 50th year of involvement with the club he joined as a 15-year-old.

The Canterbury stalwart released his biography, Bootboy to President, in the spring and was looking forward to a year in office until being diagnosed with cancer on Monday afternoon.

The winner of 21 Test caps for England as a stoic yet classically correct opening batsman, Luckhurst is about to start intensive treatment.

Never one to shirk a fight, he said: "Over the last 50 years I have faced many challenges. This is going to be the biggest."

Luckhurst played 336 matches for Kent between 1958 and 1985, scoring 19,096 runs at an average of 37.96, a remarkable record.

He posted 39 hundreds and 100 half-centuries and pocketed 350 catches in a wonderful career that made play an integral member of Kent's all-conquering side of the 1970?s.

After retiring from playing he went on to coach and manage the club and also served as an administrator. More recently he helped run the Ames Levett Sports Centre and Lucky's Bar, which was named in his honour.

In sending his best wishes to one of the club's most loyal servants, Kentchairman Carl Openshaw said: "I know I speak for everyone involved at Kent and for Brian's many friends in the world of cricket in offering our support and best wishes to him and his family at this time."

In writing the foreword for Luckhurst's biography, his Kent and England team-mate Derek Underwood wrote: "For three years 1969-71 Brian Luckhurst was, in my opinion, the premier batsman in England. Moreover, he was the gutsiest cricketer I ever came across."

Underwood and Kent's cricketing public will be hoping for just one more show of Luckhurst courage in the weeks and months to come.