Hampshire seamer James Bruce has retired from professional cricket.
Hampshire bowler quits cricket in favour of business
Hampshire seamer James Bruce has retired from professional cricket.
The 28-year-old made his first XI County Championship debut in 2003 and was a member of the Hampshire team that won the 2005 C&G Trophy.
He took 77 wickets over the course of 2006 and 2007 and was awarded his county cap at the end of the 2006 season.
The former Eton and Durham UCCE bowler has put a premature end to his career though as he pursues business interests instead.
"The decision to retire has been a decision that I have not made lightly," Bruce told the county's website. "I've been gaining work experience in the city over the last three winters with the intention of developing a career for when I had finished playing.
"Whilst initially I didn't know when that might be, I was always conscious of the importance of preparing for life after cricket.
"The recent work that I have done this winter has made me realise that the transition from sport into the working world is not as easy a process as I originally thought.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed the work I have been doing and became aware that the longer I left this transition the harder it would be for me to secure a career in exactly what I wanted to do."
Praise
Bruce took 124 wickets in 49 first-class matches at an average of 34.07 and had an even better record in the one-day game with 44 wickets at 22.18 in 31 matches.
Hampshire's coach Paul Terry said: "Over the last few years Brucey has put an enormous amount of work into getting his body and mind into a position where he has proved a formidable opponent for opposition batters.
"It's not an exaggeration to say, in the right conditions, he has become one of the better English-born bowlers.
"Having witnessed the work he put into his fitness in Perth in the early years, it always gave me a sense of pride to see how well his career had developed - a sentiment shared, no doubt, by all those who have helped him along the way."
Terry's team return to action against Northamptonshire meanwhile, in their first meaningful pre-season friendly on April 8.
