Susie Rowe retires from cricket

The 34-year-old, who made 23 white-ball appearances for England between 2010 and 2013, represented Kent, Surrey, South East Stars and London Spirit across a career which spanned 18 years

Susie Rowe has announced her retirement from all forms of cricket.

The 34-year-old made 22 T20I appearances for England between 2010 and 2013, scoring 126 runs, and one ODI appearance against Australia in 2011.

Rowe, a middle-order batter, began her career with Kent in 2004 and spent eight years with the county, winning five Women’s County Championship titles (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012) and two National Women’s T20 competitions in 2011 and 2012.

She then spent two seasons with Surrey before stepping away from cricket in 2015 to concentrate on her hockey career. Rowe, a former England Under-21 international, represented Canterbury in the England Hockey National League Premier Division before moving to Sevenoaks Hockey Club.

^{Rowe batting for South East Stars in the 2020 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy}

Re-joining Kent in 2020, Rowe was awarded her county cap in 2021 and retires with 1,414 runs at an average of 33 from 79 appearances.

She also represented South East Stars in women’s regional cricket, making three appearances for their Charlotte Edwards Cup-winning side in 2021, and London Spirit in The Hundred.

Commenting on her retirement, Rowe said: "I feel very fortunate to have had a returning spell of cricket which allowed me a taste of the new professional era of women’s domestic cricket. It’s a drastic change to when I initially left the game in 2015 at a time when there was very little T20 women’s domestic cricket around which was by far my favoured format.

"My return in 2020 was very different to what I had imagined given the pandemic, but the ability to have access to a professional set up with the South East Stars as well as the opportunity to play in The Hundred has been absolutely incredible and I will certainly hold fondly in my cricketing memories.

"I’d like to thank Kent Cricket and the South East Stars as well as St Lawrence and Highland Court CC who all helped me get back into the game and be able to train and play as a professional cricketer.

"It’s a new era of professional women’s cricket and although I’ve loved being part of it all, it's unfortunately not something I can sustain alongside my full time PE teaching and director of cricket job at Radnor House, Sevenoaks.

"It’s very exciting to see the direction that women’s cricket is taking in this country, and I’ll always be involved in the game through both my school teaching and club coaching roles and will always take great pride and reward in helping to inspire boys and girls to want to play the game."

^{Rowe batting for England against Pakistan in 2012}

Kent Women’s head coach, Dave Hathrill, paid tribute to Rowe, stating: "Susie is a senior voice in a Kent Women dressing room that won all competitions we were a part in and she has provided invaluable experience for our young squad to learn from this year.

"On behalf of everyone at Kent Cricket I’d like to thank Susie for her many years of service to the club, being a part of so many trophy-winning sides, and we all wish her the very best for the future."

Richard Bedbrook, director of regional women's cricket at South East Stars, added: "On behalf of the South East Stars, we thank Susie for her involvement as a player in the first two seasons of the new regional team and competitions.

"A fitting region for Susie being that she represented both Kent and Surrey as a player in county cricket and a fitting bookend to her career as she was able to be a part of another historic step forwards in the women’s game."

RELATED STORIES

Susie Rowe's journey from cricket and back a valuable symbol of how far women's game has come