Former Test batter underwent chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year
Nic Maddinson has spent the majority of 2025 fighting a frightening battle with testicular cancer, with the former Test batter now looking towards a possible cricket comeback.
Maddinson, who hasn’t played cricket since he was dropped from the Blues team at the back-end of last summer, underwent surgery to have a tumour removed a short time later.
He then received news the cancer had spread.
“Once I found out I had to have chemo, that was pretty hard to deal with,” he told Nine newspapers. “It had spread to parts of my abdominal lymph nodes and lung. That was a bit where it was pretty daunting.”
At the same time, Maddinson’s wife Bianca was pregnant with their second child, Wilder, who arrived just a few weeks ago.
The 33-year-old began nine weeks of chemotherapy in mid-May.
“By the second or third week, I lost all my hair,” he said. “I was feeling pretty average. I was taking types of steroids to manage side effects, but they would keep me up at night … I’d sleep until about 1am, but sometimes I’d then be awake until 6am. I found that difficult. I was super drained and felt like I had to sleep 24/7.
“It was the slowest and longest nine weeks.”
Maddinson’s chemotherapy finished in mid-July and two weeks later he had his first hit back at Cricket NSW headquarters at Olympic Park – though it was his only session for a month.
In September, he received news that the treatment had worked, an outcome that allowed him to begin taking steps for a return to cricket, and just yesterday, the dashing left-hander had a centre-wicket session with some fellow NSW squad members.
“To know that I caught it probably as early as I could have, and it still spread into other parts of my body, that was scary,” he added.
“I just think it’s so important if you have anything you’re worried about, get it checked out.”
