Allan Border: ‘Have Parkinson’s since 2016, a miracle if I live up to 80’

In a shocking revelation, Australian cricket legend Allan Border on Friday (June 30) has said that he has Parkinson’s disease and it would be a “miracle” if he makes it 80.

The former Australian captain, who will turn 68 on July 27, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder in 2016. “I walked into the neurosurgeon’s and he said straight up, ‘I’m sorry to tell you but you’ve got Parkinson’s’,” the 1987 World Cup-winning Australian skipper told Newscorp.

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“‘Just the way you walked in. Your arms straight down by your side, hanging not swinging.’ He could just tell.” Border had only confided about this to his former teammate Dean Jones, who died of heart attack in 2020.

“I’m a pretty private person and I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me sort of thing,” he said.

“Whether people care you don’t know. But I know there’ll come a day when people will notice. I get the feeling ‘I’m a hell of a lot better off than most’. At the moment, I’m not scared, not about the immediate future anyway. I’m 68. If I make 80, that’ll be a miracle. I’ve got a doctor friend and I said if I make 80, that’ll be a miracle, and he said, ‘That will be a miracle’,” Border added.

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A veteran of 156 Tests between 1979 and 1994, Border captained Australia in 1993 and led them to the Ashes triumph over England in 1989.

He was the first batter to score 11,000 runs and ended his career with 11,174 Test runs.

From 273 ODIs, he has 6524 runs. After retirement, he has served as an Australian selector and been a broadcast commentator.

“No way am I going to get another 100, that’s for sure,” Border said. “I’ll just slip slowly into the west.”

(With agency inputs)