Simon Kerrigan announces retirement

Simon Kerrigan, Northamptonshire's former England spinner, has announced his retirement from the game. Kerrigan, 34, made a comeback at Wantage Road in 2020 but has only played once in the County Championship this season.

Slow left-armer Kerrigan was prolific in the early part of his career at Lancashire and played one Test, against Australia at The Oval in 2013. But after a suffering a chastening debut, he faded from contention and stepped away from playing in 2018.

He subsequently made a return with Northants after three years out of first-class cricket, having previously played for the club on loan.

"I would like to thank all the players and staff for my time at Northamptonshire, especially David Ripley for allowing me the opportunity to get back into the professional game and also John Sadler for showing faith in me and giving me a long term contract," Kerrigan said.

"The goal when I signed with David Ripley was to strive for the fairytale ending to the second part of my career, disappointingly though over the last couple of seasons that dream has moved further and further out of reach and it feels like the right time for me to move on."

"I'm proud throughout my career to have given 100% and fought back from each setback along the way."

Kerrigan shot to prominence in 2011 when he helped bowl Lancashire to their first outright County Championship in 77 years and was soon involved with England Lions. For a few years he was the leading young spinner in the country, but his confidence appeared to be dented by his one appearance at Test level, when he bowled a single spell of 0 for 53 from eight overs.

In all, Kerrigan took more than 300 wickets for Lancashire across formats before being released in 2018. Having briefly decided to focus on coaching, he made a playing comeback with Northants, claiming 54 first-class wickets and 11 in List A across four seasons at Wantage Road.