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Caddick announces retirement

Andrew Caddick has announced he will retire at the end of the season after 19 years at Somerset

Cricinfo staff
02-Aug-2009
Andrew Caddick is hanging up his bowling boots after a long career  •  Getty Images

Andrew Caddick is hanging up his bowling boots after a long career  •  Getty Images

Andrew Caddick has announced he will retire at the end of the season after 19 years at Somerset. During his career he played 62 Tests and 54 one-day internationals for England and remained a consistent performer at county level after his final international appearance in 2003.
Caddick, 40, has been plagued by injuries in the last couple of seasons and although he is now back in the Somerset Championship side has decided not to try and continue his career in 2010.
Before the current Championship match against Nottinghamshire he had 1175 first-class wickets with a best of 9 for 32 and 2009 is his testimonial year.
"I'm 40. Simple as that. I wanted to call time while I was still physically and mentally strong, rather than playing on for the sake of it," Caddick told the Somerset website.
"Retirement had to be on my terms, not anyone else's. Somerset are still in with a chance of winning the Championship for the first time this season and that would be the perfect way for me to bow out."
Brian Rose, Somerset's director of cricket, said: "I would like to compliment him on a great career. Not many players continue in the first class game past the age of 40 and he has been a tremendous servant to Somerset cricket.
"While he won't be involved with the club on an official basis, I am hoping to persuade him to come in during the winter to work with some of our young players."
Born in New Zealand, Caddick moved to England after representing his country of birth at youth level and made his first-class debut in 1991. Two years later his Test debut arrived against Australia, at Old Trafford, but it wasn't until the Duncan Fletcher-Nasser Hussain era began that he finally settled into a consistently productive international career.
On his day he could dismantle batting line-ups, such as at Durban in 1999 when he tore through South Africa or Headingley 2000 when he cleaned up West Indies in a two-day victory.
His final Test came against Australia, at Sydney, in January 2003 with a match-winning display of 10 for 215 and his final international appearance came at the World Cup two months later. Injury meant he was ruled out early in the 2003 home season and he never forced his way back, although kept believing he could as recently as 2007 when he was the leading first-class wicket-taker.