‘HE TOOK T20 BY STORM’

Paul Weaver pays tribute to Luke Wright, who retired after 19 seasons with Sussex.

He will be remembered best for his wideshouldered hitting and his bustling bowling, but Sussex also lost one of their most popular and wholehearted cricketers when Luke Wright announced his retirement last year.

He did so to take up a key role as England Men’s Selector, working across all squads, including the Lions and Young Lions. For a cricketer who never played Test cricket the appointment was a measure of the deep respect with which he is held within the game.

He first played for Leicestershire in 2003 and was in their side when Sussex clinched their first Championship. He moved to Sussex the following year, but he was not overawed and soon proved himself to be an important all-rounder in the Championship and the one-day game.

His strength and commitment soon made him a favourite, and he was a difficult player to leave out. He made more than 100 appearances for England, at ODI or T20 level, and was a vital member of the team that won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2010. He became an international favourite at T20 level and appeared in the Big Bash – he was very popular with Melbourne Stars - the Indian Premier League and the Pakistan Super League.

It is mostly forgotten now that Luke went close to playing Test cricket after Andrew Flintoff retired at the end of the 2009 Ashes series. Chairman of selectors Geoff Miller said at the time: “Andrew’s retirement has created a vacancy for an all-rounder and we believe that Luke can make an impact at Test Level.” He was picked for the tour of South Africa and was expected to play in the first Test before England chose, instead, to play six specialist batsmen. But it is as a vigorous one-day player that he will be best remembered.

As he said goodbye to Hove, Wright said: “I will always be a Sussex fan.” Luke did not have the swansong he deserved at Sussex last season, neither at a team nor at a personal level. “The overall feeling at the club was one of frustration,” he said, describing the failures of the side in the Vitality Blast, who had their worst campaign for a decade. “We had too many comings and goings through the season. We never really had a settled team and we struggled to put games together.”

On a personal level, Luke’s prospects were hit when he injured his heel in a fall trying to put a cover on an outdoor heater. “I had three injuries in one foot. I tried to play because I hadn’t had the best of campaigns but it was like batting with both hands tied behind my back.”

Sussex coach and former team-mate James Kirtley led the tributes: “I feel very lucky to have played with Luke and also worked with him in a coaching capacity. But, most importantly, I can call him a friend and I am sure he will do great things in his new role. I was there at the start as a player when he was an exciting young talent and one that you couldn’t help but want to support and nurture. He took the T20 game by storm. He had a great mind-set and was a model on how to play T20 cricket. He deserves all the plaudits for a fantastic career.”

Sussex gave him the T20 captaincy in 2015, and was leader in all formats the following year. A personal favourite innings was his unbeaten 153 off 66 balls, with 11 sixes, to stun Essex as Sussex pulled off a record run chase with nine balls remaining. But there were plenty of thunderous cameos in his final seasons too, when he opened the batting so memorably with Phil Salt.

A personal regret is that he didn’t continue to play for the Championship side. With a first-class average of 38 he was a proper middle order batsman in the red-ball game and his younger colleagues would have learned so much from him. But he will leave the stage with few regrets.