85 year old West Indian cricketer to retire after 60 year career
Normally a cricketer plays professional cricket till the age of 35 or 40, while the fast bowler’s career is even shorter but 85-year-old fast bowler Cecil Wright of West Indies, while defying his age, now wants to say goodbye to cricket. Wright said that he will retire in the next two weeks.
Wright has played a first-class match for Jamaica against giants like Gary Sobers and Wes Hall. This match was played against Barbados in 1958. Wright then moved to England in 1959 and began his career as a professional cricketer for Crompton in the Central Lancashire League. After this he decided to settle here.
Wright has also played with veterans such as Vivian Richards and Joel Garner. What makes him different is his 60-year cricket career in which he has taken more than 7,000 wickets. However, Wright has now made up his mind to say goodbye to the game.
Wright told the Daily Mirror, “I wish I had known how my career was so long, I can’t answer you.” He estimated that he had played around 2 million matches.
Wright attributed his fitness to Lancashire’s traditional food. He said, ‘To be honest, I eat anything but I do not consume much of alcohol, I occasionally take beer.’ Wright said, ‘I was able to maintain my fitness also because I never made excuses for my age. I have felt that keeping myself active provides relief from pain. I don’t like to watch television, I like to walking to TV instead’.
Wright will play his last match on September 7. He will field against Springhead for Uppermill in the Pennine league cricket.
