Celebrating the 2023 retirees

The PCA would like to thank all of the professional players that have retired since the end of last season for their hard work and dedication to the sport.

A selection of players from domestic cricket as well as high profile England internationals including Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Stuart Broad have announced their retirements.

At the 2023 cinch PCA Awards, the Association marked their achievements through recognising the efforts of all the players in the event programme and a film of their highlights, produced by Sky Sports.

Although tinged with a touch of sadness it’s time to celebrate the achievements of those that have decided to hang up their boots.

The PCA wishes all members the best for their transition out of the game.

Thunder’s Alex Hartley looks set to be as big a success off the field as the slow left-armer proved on it, in her role as an energising and entertaining member of the BBC’s radio output. Born in Blackburn, she would go on to play 32 times for the national team, winning the 2017 World Cup and pre-dating the emergence of contemporary Sophie Ecclestone. A career-best 4-24 came against West Indies at Kingston in 2016.

The 32-year-old off-spinning all-rounder from Ashton-under-Lyne played 122 T20 games,16 First-Class matches, and 36 List A appearances across an 11-year two-club career. Lilley was an integral part of Lancashire’s inaugural T20 Blast winning team of 2014 with bat and ball. It being the first limited-over win for the club for 16 years.

A wicket taken on Championship debut with the very first ball bowled – the first by a Glamorgan player in 56 years, and only the third time ever – makes for the best and arguably most challenging starts imaginable. Latterly used more of a batting all-rounder, the 30-year-old from Haverfordwest would go on to play over 200 all-format games for the county club.

The first ever female on the Somerset Academy when aged 13, the Bath-born swing bowler’s ability to move the ball in the air marked her out as one to watch. A host of England individual bowling records later, the 31-year-old finishes as a multiple world champion and England’s player of the tournament during the 2014 World T20.

Hereford-born and Taunton educated, performances for Devon saw the right-arm swing bowler recommended to Worcestershire, where the now 31-year-old would go on to play 150 all-format games. With the 2014 First-Class season a highpoint – it realising 52 wickets and a promotion – alongside a Cricket Writers’ Young Player of the Year nomination.

A county captain between 2019 and 2022, 38-year-old Vilas played six Tests (2015/16) and a single T20I (2012) for South Africa as a wicketkeeper-batter. In seven years at Old Trafford – four as captain – he led the Red Rose to three T20 Finals Day appearances and two Championship runners-up spots in 2021 and 2022.

This seam-bowling all-rounder was born in Cape Town, entered the county game on an Italian passport, and proved an influential presence across all three counties he played for. In a 15-year career he racked up over 300 first-team appearances, as well as 15 T20Is, in the colours of the ‘Azzuri’.

For a goodly period England’s no.3, the left-hander amassed five Test hundreds in 24 matches, at an average better than 40, however three hundreds out of the gate marked him out as capable of even greater heights. A dual international – growing up on a tobacco farm in Harare – Ballance’s career started and ended playing in Zimbabwe.

A T20 Blast winner in 2016, slow left-armer White leaves the playing side of the game as the Steelbacks’ leading short-form wicket-taker. The 38-year-old remains at Wantage Road as a multifunctional coach, leading across fielding and spin bowling, as well as second team head coach.

The Barnsley-born swing-bowling all-rounder’s England career began in 2004, and she has since that time proven the mainstay of the attack, when free from injury. In all forms of the game. Bustling and bristling on the field, open and engaging off it, the 38-year-old retires as a World Cup winner, an Ashes winner and a great of the game as England’s all-time wicket-taker in 50-over and 20-over cricket.

Retiring from the game to take up the role of England selector, the bustling all-rounder played 50 ODIs for England and 51 T20Is, primarily as a hard-hitting top order batter. One of the game’s first cricketers acknowledged as a ‘franchise player’, the Grantham-born 38-year-old completed assignments in India, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, the Middle East and the UK.

Lancashire-born all-rounder scored a maiden First-Class hundred against Leicestershire in 2022 on one of only eight First-Class appearances. He found himself, ultimately, as more of a short format specialist, his skiddy leg-breaks leading to 42 professional appearances and 45 well-earned wickets.

Born in New South Wales, Australia, Hogan didn’t make his professional debut until the age of 28 but enjoyed a career that spanned 15 seasons. The 42-year-old took an incredible 967 wickets during that time representing Glamorgan and Kent and claimed over 100 wickets across all formats in 2013.

Lancashire-born Kerrigan made his professional debut in 2010 and ended up for 423 wickets across the three formats. The slow left-armer took incredible best innings figures of 9-51 against Hampshire in the penultimate day of the 2011 season. A sole England appearance came in the 2013 Ashes series at The Kia Oval.

An influential force across a 20-year career, the Bromsgrove-born wicketkeeper-batter would play 13 times for England and go on to make in excess of 500 all-format first-team appearances at county level. He made 25 First-Class hundreds with 621 catches and 34 stumpings during that time.

A great of the game, Broad’s ability to impact his sport was never more apparent than during ‘that morning’, when taking 8-15 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015. In total, the Nottingham-born opening bowler took five Test wickets in a single spell on seven occasions. A multiple Ashes winner, World champion, and an England T20 captain, this taker of 604 Test wickets has since found a new home on Sky Sports.

Bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old, Watford-born Finn would go on to play 36 Tests for England, where at his best, he was one of the team’s most influential performers finishing with 125 Test wickets at an average of 30.40. The 34-year-old also took an impressive 129 white-ball wickets for his country and now fills his days as a self-deprecating but insightful voice on Test Match Special.

In taking a Test-best 5-13 against England at Lord’s in 2019, the performance summarised everything good about the Lambeth-born seam bowler. Consistent, skilful and persistent, the 42-year-old proved good enough to play over 260 First-Class matches across 23 seasons, finishing with over 950 wickets, costing 24.55 apiece. Part of Middlesex’s Championship-winning team in 2016, he remains at the Home of Cricket in a fulltime coaching role.

The 25-year-old Hammersmith-born wicketkeeper-batter played 54 all-format games for three different counties between 2018 and 2022. A maiden hundred (143) came when playing for Derbyshire against Glamorgan at Swansea in 2019, made in a 291-run partnership with Billy Godleman. It is the highest tally for any wicket by a Derbyshire pair against the Welsh county.