Cox calls it quits after 19 years

Jamie Cox, the Tasmania and Somerset opening batsman, has retired after 264 first-class matches in a 19-year career. Fading in his last couple of seasons, Cox, 36, managed only 60 runs in three Pura Cup games this summer and was more prominent in the ABC commentary box and on the television show Inside Cricket than on the field.

Nobody has played more Pura Cup-Sheffield Shield games than Cox's 161, and he finishes in second position behind Darren Lehmann for the most runs after bowing out with 10,821. It is a record that shows his longevity and also his inability to crack the national team. A solid opener, he was in contention for the 1997 and 2001 Ashes tours but was overpowered by Michael Slater, Mark Taylor, Matthew Elliott, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.

Making his debut in 1987-88, Cox was Tasmania's first inductee into the Cricket Academy and had his best season in 1996-97 when he struck 1,349 runs. In 2000-01 he was named the Pura Cup Player of the Season and was also making his mark at Somerset, where he captained the county for three northern summers. Somerset won the C&G Trophy under Cox in 2001 and his overall first-class record for the two teams was 18,614 runs at 42.69.

"He retires as one of the best players never to have represented Australia at senior level, but his contribution to Tasmanian cricket is immense," Brent Palfreyman, the Tasmania Cricket Association chairman, said. Cox is a player career development coordinator with the TCA and Palfreyman said he was keen for him to remain involved with the organisation.