Sussex Legend Luke Wright To Retire From Professional Cricket

Wednesday, 23 November 2022 11:26

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

Sussex Cricket has announced that club legend and former T20 captain Luke Wright will officially retire from the professional game in the coming months.

The ECB has also confirmed he will take up a role as England Men's Selector from March 2023.

In more than 400 matches for the club across all formats, Wright accumulated over 16,000 runs and 30 centuries.

To this day, he is the highest scorer in T20 Blast history with 5,026 runs for the Sharks.

The explosive batsman has spent 18 years at The 1st Central County Ground and was part of the Sussex teams that won the County Championship in 2006 and 2007.

Ever present at the top of the order, Wright helped to deliver the T20 Cup in 2009, as well as consecutive Pro40 titles in 2008 and 2009.

Reflecting on his time at Sussex, Luke said:

“I would like to thank everyone connected to the club for the support I've had ever since moving here. I gave my everything and I hope that showed on the pitch.

“I would also like to thank my friends and family for the love, support and sacrifices they gave to make my career possible.

“And finally, my brother Ashley who has been my batting coach from start to finish.

“I will always be a Sussex fan.”

Wright — who played more than 100 white-ball games for England — was a genuine all-rounder in his earlier days, taking 118 wickets in First-Class cricket at an average of 38.81, and with best figures of 5-65.

The Apex of his career arrived as part of England’s World T20 winning team in 2010, and although he was known for his ability to smash boundaries all over the ground, he dismissed the in-form Cameron White in the final against Australia.

Sussex Performance Director, Keith Greenfield, paid homage, saying:

“Luke has clearly been an outstanding player for us over a long period, his explosive batting has caused many headaches for opposition bowlers and a joy for our supporters to see and enjoy.

“We wish him all the very best in his new role and thank him for all his efforts for the club.”