The former England left-arm pacer Ryan Sidebottom will call time on his 20-year old professional cricket career after the end of the county championship. The pacer made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in the year 1997 and will retire playing for the same county.
“THERE’S A TEAR IN MY EYE WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT NOT PLAYING PROFESSIONAL CRICKET AGAIN – A GAME THAT’S GIVEN ME SO MUCH OVER THE YEARS. BUT IT’S THE RIGHT TIME AND I WANT TO GO OUT ON A HIGH, RATHER THAN FADE AWAY, AS THAT’S JUST NOT THE SORT OF GUY I AM. I’VE ALWAYS TRIED TO PLAY WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE AND GIVE 110 PERCENT BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SPORT.
“IT’S BEEN AN HONOUR TO REPRESENT MY HOME COUNTY, YORKSHIRE, PLAY FOR MY COUNTRY AND HELP MAKE HISTORY AT NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. I COULDN’T HAVE ASKED FOR BETTER TEAMMATES AND THEY’VE HELPED ME BECOME THE CRICKETER I AM TODAY.
“I’M HOPING THAT ATTITUDE WILL HELP ME IN THE NEXT STAGE OF MY CAREER, AS I FOCUS ON THE ACADEMY AND BRINGING THROUGH AMAZING NEW YOUNG TALENT, AS WELL AS HELPING REACH KIDS WHO MIGHT NOT EVER HAVE THE CHANCE TO PLAY CRICKET DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND THEIR CONTROL.
“NOT EVERYONE HAS BEEN AS LUCKY AS ME AND THAT’S SOMETHING I NEVER FORGET, SO IF WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO A FEW LIVES, THEN IT’S ALL WORTH IT,” SIDEbOTTOM SAID.
Ryan Sidebottom played a total of 22 Tests and 25 ODIs for England and was also the part of the England side that won the ICC T20 World Cup 2010. He was quite famous for his curly hairs which used to sway in the air whenever he came to bowl.
As a youngster, he won the NBC Denis Compton Award for two consecutive years in the year 1999 and 2000 which further saw him succeeding and making his international debut in 2001.
Sidebottom played a total of 222 first class matches in which he scalped 737 wickets. In 186 List A games, Sidebottom bagged a total of 198 wickets at an average of 30.97.
“HE’S BEEN A FANTASTIC SERVANT TO YORKSHIRE, NOTTS AND ENGLAND OVER THE YEARS – 20 YEARS AS A FAST BOWLER IS A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT. HE’S A WINNER, WE’VE ALL SEEN THAT, AND HE CAN BE VERY PROUD OF WHAT HE HAS ACHIEVED IN CRICKET, AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF SUCCESS.
“IT HAS BEEN A FANTASTIC CAREER AND HE WILL BE GOING OUT AT THE TOP. I HOPE WE CAN KEEP HIM INVOLVED IN A MENTORING CAPACITY GOING FORWARD, AS HE HAS A LOT TO OFFER TO THE YOUNG FAST BOWLERS IN PARTICULAR.”
Sidebottom now plans to pay his attention towards his cricket academies in Yorkshire and Leeds.