End of the Rhodes

Jonty Rhodes has confirmed that he will be retiring from first-class cricket at the end of the English season.

Rhodes, who is currently enjoying a fruitful one-off season at Gloucestershire, quit international one-day cricket after the recent World Cup, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"I'm done, I've been playing for 14 years and I've enjoyed every day at the office, and have no regrets whatsoever," he told the BBC. "Cricket has been such a major part of my life so it will be nice to have a break and see where the future takes me."

Rhodes, who has studied for a business degree between matches, has already received five job offers for non-cricketing work. He played 52 Tests and 245 one-day internationals for South Africa, after making his debut at the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

As a batsman, Rhodes was a reliable Test cricketer, and capable of explosive hitting in the one-day game, but he will forever be best known for his brilliant fielding. He quit Test cricket in 2000 to concentrate on the 2003 World Cup, which took place in South Africa, but his campaign was cruelly cut short by a broken hand.

"It's sad for cricket that Jonty will not be continuing," John Bracewell, Gloucestershire's outgoing director of cricket, told the Press Association. "Having said that, we knew that the odds on him coming back for another year were probably against us. He's lived up to every expectation we had, both on the field as well as in and around the dressing-room. He's been a marvellous ambassador for cricket and his standing with the coaches and team puts him with the best of our overseas players."