Sir Geoffrey Boycott returns to Headingley for first time since cancer operation

Sir Geoffrey Boycott returned to Headingley for the first time since his cancer operation in July to watch England take on Australia in the second one-day international on Saturday.

Boycott, who turns 84 in October, is recovering from major surgery after throat cancer returned more than two decades after he first fought off the illness. His recovery from surgery was complicated by a bout of pneumonia that left him fighting for his life.

He is slowly regaining strength and his Headingley visit was the next stage of his recovery. It was his first outing since leaving hospital more than six weeks ago.

Boycott, who has continued to write for Telegraph Sport during his recuperation, is still on a liquid diet but hopes to be fully recovered by the end of the year.

His cancer was discovered earlier this summer when he experienced trouble swallowing. His initial surgery went well but he suffered a relapse when he contracted pneumonia in hospital and fell ill after a few days at home.

"I am still here because of the quick thinking of my wife Rachael. She recognised I had taken a turn for the worse in my recovery from surgery for throat cancer ," he wrote for Telegraph Sport recently. "I was recuperating at home from the operation and felt pretty good at first but overnight I became delirious, was not talking properly and looked awful. We had a pulse oximeter at home which she put on my finger and it recorded my blood oxygen level at 35 per cent. That is when she knew there was a major problem and called an ambulance. I was rushed back in, put on oxygen and diagnosed with pneumonia .

"It has knocked hell out of me and if Rachael had not acted so quickly I am pretty sure I would not have made it through the night. She saved my life, no doubt about that."