Anya Shrubsole to retire from all cricket following The Hundred

Shrubsole bowed out of regional cricket on a high, taking 2 for 24 and picking up player of the match honours as Vipers defeated The Blaze by seven wickets in the Charlotte Edwards Cup final

Anya Shrubsole has confirmed she will retire at the end of the 2023 edition of The Hundred and has played her final match for Southern Vipers.

Shrubsole bowed out of regional cricket on a high, taking 2 for 24 and picking up player of the match honours as Vipers defeated The Blaze by seven wickets in the Charlotte Edwards Cup final.

In an emotional post-match speech, the 31-year-old said: "I'm going to play The Hundred and I'll be retiring at the end of the season.

"It's hard to tell given the effortlessness with which I move around the field but it hurts quite a lot, so [I'll] have a bit of a rest now and try and get myself in place to play The Hundred.

"It's a really good competition. We'll see if [Southern Brave] can get over the line third time lucky. Whatever happens happens [and] I've had a great career and I feel really privileged to have finished here playing with the Vipers, who are such a great bunch."

^{Shrubsole lifts the Charlotte Edwards Cup [Tony Marshall/Getty Images]}

^{Shrubsole celebrating the final wicket in the 2017 Women's World Cup final [Shaun Botterill/Getty Images]}

Expanding on her reasons for retiring, she added: "It hurts a lot. I've got a lot of life left to live and I'd like to be able to walk around, take the dogs for a walk, that kind of thing and it not really hurt, so from that point of view, it's [a] really easy [decision].

"But it's difficult. I've played cricket for England and for Vipers and whoever else since I was 16. Half of my life has been spent playing cricket, so when you give that up, it's never easy, but I know it's right and I know it's the right time."

Shrubsole, a pace bowler, retired from international cricket following the 2022 Women's World Cup final against Australia.

After making her international debut in 2008, she went on to feature in eight Tests, 86 ODIs and 79 T20Is, taking 227 wickets. She was the player of the final at the 2017 Women's World Cup, with her spell of 6 for 46 clinching a nine-run win for England.  

She also represented Western Storm, Perth Scorchers, Somerset and Berkshire in a senior career which began in 2004 and spanned 20 seasons.

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