Giles calls it a day
The England spinner Ashley Giles today announced his retirement from cricket due to a persistent hip injury. The 34-year-old has become resigned to his fate after more than a year of problems and today took his surgeon’s advice to call it a day.
Giles claimed 143 wickets in 54 Tests and hit a brilliant 59, his highest score for England, to help secure the Ashes at The Oval two years ago.
“Following guidance from my hip surgeon, Dr Marc Philippon, I am very sorry to announce that I am retiring from all forms of cricket with immediate effect,” said Giles. “I had hoped to make a full recovery and return to playing over the next few months but the advice I have received means that there is no chance of me returning to cricket at any level.
“I would have liked to have left cricket at the very top, still playing the game that I have always loved, and whether it be on the village green or Test arena. But I have no regrets. I will always have great memories of being part of a fantastic Warwickshire and England dressing room. I feel lucky to have travelled the world playing a game with my mates and hugely privileged to have played alongside and against some of the greatest cricketers to grace the game.
“It has been a huge honour to play for my country and to play a part in one of the most successful periods in its cricketing history. I dreamt of playing cricket for England and winning the Ashes as a child and so to be part of that magical summer of 2005 was truly a dream realised.”
Giles’s contribution to that triumph was rewarded with an MBE alongside the rest of the side in that year’s New Year’s Honours list, and he played in the opening two Tests in Pakistan that November before his hip problems flared up. He recovered sufficiently to be controversially selected for the opening two Tests of last winter’s Ashes series ahead of Monty Panesar. But after returning home early from Australia for family reasons, he broke down again and has now had three operations in the last 18 months.
“Ashley’s retirement is very sad news and everyone in the England dressing room will miss his professionalism and, of course, his sense of humour,” said the England skipper Michael Vaughan. “In my view, Ashley has to be one of the most underrated cricketers ever to pull on an England shirt. He was a key member of the England Test side which won six successive Test series and I know how much his team-mates valued his contributions to our success.
“What also stands out for me is his strength of character. He went through difficult periods earlier in his career where he had long-term injuries but his determination to recover from them and regain his international place is an object lesson, not just to other cricketers but to any professional sportsman.”
Rob Smyth on why «blogs.guardian.co.uk»
