While most media articles have concentrated on global stars' decisions to quit Test cricket or ODIs (for example, Kallis and Jayawardene), I'd like to redress the balance and celebrate the careers of others who have graced the county game (and a few internationals) for many years.
Murray Goodwin has been around for two decades in his native Zimbabwe, adopted homeland of Australia and England, amassing almost 38,000 runs along the way. He retired in August after a good run for Glamorgan in one-dayers but a poor early summer in the Championship. He was part of the great Zimbabwe side of the late 1990s (the Flowers, Streak et al) but also excelled at Western Australia and for Sussex. He spent several prolific seasons down at Hove, the highlight being an unbeaten 335 to clinch the county's first Championship in 2003. Despite being best known for his first-class cricket performances, like many great players he demonstrated ability to succeed in the shorter stuff in his twilight years both with the bat and in the field. Even so, I was surprised when at 40 he moved from the South Coast to Cardiff but he maintained his form in 2013 before losing it this year. An under-rated star of the sport, he'll be missed.
His Glamorgan team mate Gareth Rees also quit cricket last month. Not always a first team regular, the Swansea-born, Comprehensive-educated left-hander nonetheless played 189 matches, including 13 first-class centuries. Twenty20 is not his strong point so, maybe reading the writing on the wall, he has opted for a career in business at the age of 29.
Mark Davies has suffered so many injuries in his career that he should qualify as a surgeon or chiropractor. Nevertheless, in between spells in a back brace or the treatment room, he enjoyed fifteen years in county cricket for his native Durham and, finally, Kent. His bowling in the mid-2000s earned him places in the England Performance team and, in 2009, the Test squad but the likes of Anderson and Sidebottom kept him out of the team. A shoulder injury prevented him bowling a ball in 2014 so retirement at 34 was a formality. His first-class career wicket tally of 315 wickets at an extraordinary average of 22.42 shows what a class act he was. At Durham he was constantly in the shadow of Onions, Plunkett and Harmison, each faster bowlers but inferior in terms of that average.
David Sales is another county stalwart who frequently threatened but failed to earn an England cap. Nineteen seasons with Northamptonshire ended with some unremarkable performances in the T20 Blast and 6 and 0 in his final Championship match, in which Lees and Lyth put on 375 for Yorkshire's first wicket. Back in 1996 it had all looked so promising. I recall him becoming, at 18, the youngest player to score a Championship double-century then three years later, striking 303 not out against Essex but he was maddeningly inconsistent. In the end, calf and ankle injuries brought about an early retirement at 36, making Northamptonshire's wretched summer even sadder.
2014 has also experienced the last sight of Steve Kirby steaming in and unleashing all sorts of ungentlemanly language at batsmen. Oh, and did I mention that he was a very good bowler, too? He fitted the stereotype of a feisty redhead (bit like me, but taller and infinitely better at cricket!), and made his name at Yorkshire, where he took 47 wickets at under 21 in his debut season. Like Sales and Davies, he was on the fringes of full Eng;and recognition but was frozen out by Flintoff, Hioggard and co at their peak. In 2005 he moved to Gloucestershire before, to my surprise, joining my Somerset in 2011. I felt he was too old to swell the ranks of an already-creaking attack, but he nonetheless slogged his guts out with the new ball as the county blooded various teenagers as his support act alongside ALfonso Thomas. Sadly, a longstanding shoulder injury meant he played only 2nd XI cricket in June until a recurrence led him to accept the inevitable. At 36 he can still offer much as a coach, both for bowlers and as someone who hated losing and being hit for a boundary, and who gave everything to the cause.
In these days of tough finances, the season's conclusion has prompted counties to release players who just a few summers ago seemed indispensible. Geraint Jones (Kent), Gareth Berg (Middlesex), Andrew Hall and James Middlebrook (Northants,so often features of my Fantasy Eleven!) and even Yorkshire's young spinner Azeem Rafiq face un uncertain winter. Saj Mahmood's switch to Essex clearly failed to revive his flagging career and the Chelmsford set-up has also given up on getting tyro Tymal Mills to successfully combine raw pace with any kind of direction. There may be opportunities for each but I suspect that Gareth Breese, the man who so joyfully took Durham to their Royal London Cup triumph last month, may well call it a day soon. Cricket is not all about the Pietersens, Tendulkars and Steyns; we should not forget the talented cricketers who earn their crust and entertain the fans outside the media spotlight for years on end.
