Colchester cricketer secretly pens book before his cancer death

The family of an amateur cricketer who died of cancer were stunned to find out he secretly penned a book during his final months. Matt Murray, from Colchester, wrote the thriller while undergoing chemotherapy, and only told his relatives about it a fortnight before his death on 16 December. The 30-year-old accountant, who captained the 2nd XI at Eight Ash Green Cricket Club, had asked for the profits to be donated to charity. "It shows the sort of human he was," said his younger brother, Jamie, adding: "I'm particularly proud of him for doing it." Murray was diagnosed with a wilms tumour - a form of kidney cancer - as a child and, despite getting the all clear, it reappeared in 2013. Remarkably, he managed to continue playing cricket and achieved a first-class economics degree at Loughborough University. His book, called A Transfer of Consciousness, follows a police officer who gets wrapped up in a shadowy medical world after being diagnosed with cancer. "He got it edited without us knowing or anything like that, so it was a right old surprise," Jamie Murray said. The younger sibling was tasked with getting the 164-page book published and spent hours overseeing this with his brother's best friend. It finally got over the line in May and was unveiled during a memorial match at the cricket club in June. "I think people are very quick to give excuses because they don't have time or don't have the ability, but look at him," Murray said. "He was going through quite a hard life and dealt a pretty torrid time, but he still managed to do this, still managed to do the things he loved and didn't really let the disease define him." The family hope it will raise vital funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust as a thank you for the support they have received. Paying tribute to his brother, Murray added: "He was this person who always looked beyond the disease and always seemed very positive. "He was certainly one of the best brothers you could ask for."