Bowler to bow out at end of season

Somerset's Peter Bowler, the oldest player on the county circuit, has announced he will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the season.

Bowler, 41, made his debut for Leicestershire against Hampshire at Grace Road in 1986, before going on to represent Derbyshire and Tasmania in a 19-year career. Somerset's current match against Glamorgan at Taunton is his 314th first-class appearance.

"Peter has had a wonderful professional cricketing career," said Peter Anderson, Somerset's chief executive. "He wishes to play for the remainder of the season, but accepts it is a matter of form and whether he is picked. The club wishes to mark the retirement of a wonderful player in a suitable manner at the end of the season."

Bowler has scored nearly 20,000 first-class runs at an average in excess of 40, and has made 45 hundreds and 98 fifties. "[That average] is the hallmark of a really good player," added Bowler. "Some may say he was unlucky not to get an international cap."