This week, three loyal servants to domestic cricket announced their retirements. Mike Powell was one of Glamorgan's best batsmen for a decade or so, securing a regular opener's spot after Hugh Morris hung up his boots before proceeding to notch more than 10,000 runs for the county. His 299 made in 2006 remains the second highest individual innings for Glamorgan. Like many batsmen, he had a few injury problems but after rib surgery a blood clot not only threatened his career but also his life. He bounced back but his county dropped him in 2011 only for Kent to pick him up. He wasn't an ever-present in 2012 but nevertheless averaged 40-odd. This summer, despite Kent languishing near the foot of Division Two, Powell has been relegated to the Seconds so maybe his decision to call it a day at 36 is no surprise.
Matthew Hoggard's retirement has received more coverage, thanks to his record for England and in particular his contribution to the 2005 Ashes triumph. Just a month older than Powell, Hoggy was an archetypal burly, chest-on swing merchant who took more than 1000 wickets in senior cricket, 280 of them for his country. Along with Darren Gough and Craig White, he formed part of an excellent trio of Yorkshire quicks who also represented England with distinction. Like Powell, he left his home county in the past few years, skippering Leicestershire to T20 glory in 2011 but making little impression this year as the county has bumped along the bottom of the Championship. Will a career in awful celebrity shows beckon? A Strictly Come Dancing stint, perhaps? I'd rather think he could do a more useful job in cricket coaching!
The other announcement wasn't of a complete departure from cricket, although Simon Jones' self-advert as a world-class T20 specialist looks a trifle optimistic. One of the top fast bowlers in the mid-2000s, a horrendous sequence of injuries wrecked his international career just as it was becoming a great one. Indeed, Trent Bridge 2005 was to witness the last of his 18 Tests. In that game he took 5-44 then bowled only four overs in the Aussies' second innings. That was that. The man from Morriston, Swansea attempted more comebacks than Sinatra, for various brave counties, but continued to break down. Watching Glamorgan win their YB40 semi-final last week was quite exhilarating but slightly sad when watching Jones amble in for a few uninspiring overs. The Jones of old would have been called upon to deliver the final balls to finish off Hampshire but the 2013 vintage was not risked.
Simon Jones' last Test was also the first played by Shaun Tait who is perhaps the best known T20 mercenary. He has 109 matches under his belt and 143 wickets captured around the world, from Big Bash and FL to IPL. The Welshman has played a mere 35 in the last decade, claiming only 43 victims. I can see the appeal of raking in the dollars and bowling a mximum of four overs every now and again. However, what franchise would come a-calling for an injury-prone bowler eight years past his best? Let's just remember him in his prime, tearing into one of the best batting line-ups of the past thirty years alongside Flintoff, Hoggard and Harmison.
Speaking of which, Ashington's finest hasn't exactly enjoyed a successful benefit season on the pitch. Like Jones, he went from hero to zero quickly, although that notorious super-wide Down Under did for him rather than a bad knee. Harmison remained with Durham in the lean times before venturing across the border to Yorkshire. This year, he made the return journey but his appearances have been restricted to a handful of 2nd XI games. Can the big man's departure be far away That really would close the chapter on England's great Ashes bowling quartet.
