Star England Bowler calls it a day on her Test cricket career

One of England's women’s cricket team champion players, Katherine Brunt has decided to end the chapter of her illustrious Test career on June 18, 2022. Brunt, the leading wicket-taker in England women’s international career, will not be seen donning the whites for the three lions again in the future.

Speaking on her decision to put a full stop to her career, the seamer said that she had been contemplating the thought of retirement for the last couple of years, and therefore, she decided to make a smart decision rather than an emotional one. Nevertheless, she admitted that bidding adieu to the traditional format is heart-breaking.

“I feel like as an athlete there is never an obvious time to step away from doing the thing that you love,” Brunt said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“But over the past two years, thoughts of retirement have surfaced more and more, so I’ve decided to make a smart decision rather than an emotional one. Test cricket is my absolute passion and to retire from this format was truly a heartbreaking choice to make, but it allows me to prioritize white-ball cricket”, she added.

Katherine Brunt who made her Test debut way back in 2004 has since then gone on to make 14 appearances for England in red-ball cricket and has registered 51 scalps to her name, averaging 21.52 in the cricket’s most challenging format. She finishes her career as the ninth-highest wicket-taker of all time. Her last appearance came during a Test match against arch-rivals Australia in Canberra in January this year where she went on to register an impactful fifer.

Coming back to her international career, Brunt played a crucial role in England’s Women’s World Cup 2017 triumph at the ‘Home’ of cricket Lord’s against Mithali Raj’s India. She was also an integral part of the English squad that finished as the runners-up in this year’s edition of the grand event. Brunt retires as one of the all-time greats in the history of women’s cricket, leaving an indelible mark in England women’s cricket history.