Sydney: Australian cricketer Michael Clarke's fiancee Lara Bingle's father, Graham, passed away after losing his fight with cancer.

Lara, her mother Sharon and brother Josh, were in the Calvary Hospital, south of Sydney, when Graham breathed his last on Saturday night. He was 55.

Graham recently gave Michael Clarke his blessing to marry his only daughter. Clarke has delayed his trip to the West Indies to tour with the Australian cricket team.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, Clarke said on Friday he would not join his teammates in the West Indies and returned to support his 20-year-old fiancee in Sydney because of her father's deteriorating health.

Clarke left the Australian team at a Brisbane training camp, just before they flew to the Caribbean for a two-month tour.

Graham, a landscape gardener, was fighting liver and pancreatic cancer. His condition worsened late last week and his family rallied around him.

Clarke said he asked the media to respect the families' right to privacy. He recently proposed to Lara, a Sydney-based model, during a romantic getaway to New York City. They celebrated their engagement with family and friends at Luna Park in Sydney last month.

Source : IANS