English female cricketing legend Katherine Sciver-Brunt has officially called time on her international career, retiring on Saturday.
Sciver-Brunt is known as the most prolific wicket-taker for England in women's cricket across all formats, taking a total of 335 wickets in 267 matches since her debut in 2004.
Over the course of her career, the 37-year-old tasted victory in three World Cups and four Ashes series.
Her retirement may not shock some as she retired from test cricket in June 2022 to focus on the white ball formats- ODI and T20. Sciver-Brunt will still play in The Hundred, where she plays alongside her wife Nat Sciver-Brunt for the Trent Rockets.
In her retirement announcement, she revealed that her decision was to finish on top rather than in the twilight of her career.
"I've always made sure that I've kept my life outside of cricket safe and secure," she said in her retirement announcement.
"I've worked really hard for the last 10 years at securing what that looks like to the point where I feel happy to step away knowing that what I have is going to keep me now for the rest of my life.
"Things like that are hard to step away from especially when I've played 19 to 20 years and never had that kind of opportunity come my way so it would have been silly for me not to have tapped into it.
"So a mixture of that (is behind the decision to retire) but also knowing that I am getting older, the best of me I believe has been and gone and going past my best it's not something I ever wanted to do.
"I wanted to go out still at the top of my game, knowing that I could have carried on. So I wanted to make sure that I go out on my own terms."
"I thought I'd never be able to reach this decision, but I have, and it's been the hardest one of my life,"
Clare Connor, deputy chief executive officer of the England Cricket Board and Sciver-Brunt's first international captain, spoke about the seamer and her incredible 20-year career.
"She is quite simply a legend of our sport,” Connor said.
"Katherine began her career in a completely different era from the one we are in now, and we owe her a debt of gratitude for the part she has played in progressing our game, raising standards and bringing a new audience to women's cricket.”
