New South Wales opener Ed Cowan has announced his retirement from first-class cricket following his team’s 23-run defeat against Victoria, which put them out of contention for the Sheffield Shield title. Cowan will not be part of the Blues’ final match of the season against Queensland next week.
The 35-year old has 10,097 runs in 143 first-class matches over a career spanning nearly 15 years.
“It’s been a wonderful journey and I’m grateful for all those who contributed along the way,” Cowan said. “I’ll always cherish the great memories and friendships that the game has afforded me. I feel incredibly lucky to have played around the world with so many great people over such a long period of time.
The former Australia Test opener, who has 1001 runs in 18 matches, last represented the national side in July 2013. He has also featured in 53 games for Tasmania.
“I’m indebted to NSW Cricket, which invested a lot of time, money and energy in me from a young age,” he said. “It’s equally as important to recognise everyone at Cricket Tasmania, who were hugely formative in my career.”
Cowan will continue to play Premier Cricket with Sydney University. “I have loved the game from my earliest days and feel incredibly lucky to still do so. At this stage I will continue to play Premier Cricket with Sydney University for the remainder of this season and beyond as we aim for successive titles.”
The leading run-scorer in the 2016-17 Shield season, Cowan played only five of New South Wales’ nine matches this season and finished with 336 runs.
Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones praised Cowan’s contribution to cricket. “Ed is a great example of what hard work, self-belief and an ongoing desire to learn can achieve,” Jones said. “He continued to be attracted by the quest to master batting even after playing for Australia and retires at or near the top of his game. Ed should be proud of his achievements playing for NSW, Tasmania and Australia and scoring more than 10,000 first-class runs. He will remain a valued member of the NSW cricket family.”
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