Knee injury forces Worcestershire seamer Charlie Morris into retirement

The club's head coach, Alan Richardson, described him as "a wonderful human being" whose "contribution on and off the field has been fantastic"

Worcestershire seamer Charlie Morris has been forced to retire from professional cricket following an unsuccessful battle to overcome a knee injury.

Morris, 30, took 237 first-class wickets at an average of just below 30 and was presented in 2019 with the county's Dick Lygon Award, previously won by the likes of Basil D'Oliveira and Imran Khan.

The club's head coach, Alan Richardson, described him as "a wonderful human being" whose "contribution on and off the field has been fantastic".

Morris initially forced himself into Worcestershire's setup through playing National Counties cricket for Devon, and he made his first-class debut for Oxford MCCU 11 years ago.

In Worcestershire's promotion year of 2014, he picked up 56 wickets and backed that up with 50 more the following summer. Four years later, after having to remodel his action, he picked up 47 County Championship wickets.

"Throughout my cricketing journey, countless individuals have contributed to my success, and while it's impossible to acknowledge everyone by name, I'd like to express my gratitude to the staff at Worcestershire, my teammates, and the phenomenal coaches and support staff who I've had the privilege to work with," said Morris.

^{Charlie Morris's professional career has succumbed to a knee injury (Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)}

"No professional cricketer can thrive without a strong support network, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my family for being there for me every step of the way throughout my career.

"As a cricketer, I am tremendously proud of everything I have accomplished, and I want to extend my best wishes to everyone at Worcestershire as they move forward. As for me, I will continue to be a keen supporter of the club."

Richardson, who was Morris' bowling coach before taking over from Alex Gidman as head coach this winter, added: "Everyone who has been in and around Charlie knows what an impressive character he is, how good he has been in and around the club and what a huge ambassador he has been for the club over his time here.

"His record speaks for itself, and he has been on a hell of a journey. It was always his dream to be a county cricketer and to achieve that, do so well, and be such an influential member of this special club is something he should be very proud of.

"One of his huge strengths is his resilience and diligence about his work, and I don’t think many people in cricket have come back from remodelling their action. 

"Charlie worked incredibly hard, his attention to detail was unsurpassed, he did everything in his powers to make sure he came back, and he was really effective and was a huge part of us over the last three or four years."

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