New Zealand batting great Martin Crowe on Friday said the cancer he was diagnosed with last year was under control and he was cutting all ties with cricket to reduce his stress levels.

Crowe said he believed worrying about cricket, particularly the axing of his protege Ross Taylor as New Zealand captain late last year, exacerbated his lymphatic cancer, leading to a large tumour in his stomach.

After five months of chemotherapy, the 50-year-old said doctors had told him his cancer had shrunk to safe levels, although there was always the possibility of a relapse.