WORCESTERSHIRE batsman Tom Fell has undergone surgery after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

The 22-year-old was given the green light to resume playing next month.

Fell, the team’s leading run- scorer in the LV= County Championship last summer, had the operation in mid- October after the specialist discovered a tumour.

After a period of rest, he has resumed training at New Road before heading out to Australia on December 7 to play grade cricket in Perth for three months.

Fell did not want chemotherapy and instead will have regular check-ups, including when Down Under, after being told he has a 65 per cent chance of remaining all clear.

The player is keen to promote cancer awareness after admitting he should have gone for a check-up much sooner after a change in the condition of his left testicle.

Fell, who scored 1,084 Championship runs in 2015, admitted: “I was quite lucky.

“I was fairly stupid as I didn’t get it checked straight away. When they did analyse the tumour, it was fairly big at the stage they operated.

“If I had left it any longer and gone to Australia to play cricket this winter without being checked, who knows how bad it could have been?

“Because I felt no different is why I didn’t bother to get it checked sooner than I did.

“The thing I want to get out there to people is, even if they don’t really have any concerns, it is worth getting it checked.

“It is such an easy thing to do and takes ten minutes with the doctor. That is something I am keen to promote.”

At the end of September, the batsman decided to take action after initially seeing the club doctor.

Fell, who signed a new three-year deal with Worcestershire in August, admitted he was quite calm after learning of the high success rate in dealing with the problem.

He said: “I knew it wasn’t going to be life-threatening unless it had spread but the signs initially were positive.

“Naturally, it came as a bit of a shock. But I knew straight away testicular cancer is something quite common in people my age and is very curable. I think the cure rate is 97 to 98 per cent.

“I found other people were a lot more concerned than I was. When you do hear the word ‘cancer’, you immediately think the worst and understandably so.”

This month, Fell got the positive news he had wished for.

He said: “I saw the specialist again and they broke the good news it hadn’t spread.

“However, it was close. The tumour was quite bad at the time but it was really the best news I could have hoped for.”

Fell will have regular check-ups over 10 years and be put in touch with specialists in Perth.

He continued: “I was recommended by a professor I saw to avoid chemotherapy if I could, especially as a sportsman, as the side-effects and consequences can be quite severe.

“I’ve been told there is a 65 per cent chance it is all clear and if it comes back, it will most likely be in the next three months.

"Then I would have to go through three cycles of chemotherapy as opposed to two.”

After recuperating with family in Watford for a month, Fell has returned to New Road for winter training ahead of flying abroad.

He said: “It’s been a bit of a shock to the system this week but it’s great to be back.

“A month ago, I didn’t know what was going to happen.

"To know I’m able to get on with my life again and get out to Australia as originally planned is a really good feeling.”

Fell was overwhelmed with messages of support from his team-mates and coaching and medical staff.

He added: “I let them all know pretty much straight away about my position and the support and messages I got were unbelievable, pretty overwhelming to be honest.

“Everyone was fantastic.

Every single person in the squad and on the staff sent me a message wishing me well.

“Mitch (skipper Daryl Mitchell), for his benefit year, has named ‘Oddballs’ as his charity, which works with testicular cancer and the awareness of that. It is fantastic he is doing that.”