Former England international Susie Rowe announces retirement from all forms of cricket

The right-hand batter made her county debut for Kent in 2004 and scored 1,414 runs from 79 appearances. She was part of the squad that won the Women’s County Championship title five times - 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. Rowe also contributed to Kent’s two National Women’s T20 competitions championships in 2011 and 2012, registering her high score of 67 off 59 balls against Yorkshire in 2012.

Rowe stepped away from cricket in 2015 to pursue her career in hockey and re-joined the Kent system in 2020. She turned out for South East Stars in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup, and also represented the Heather Knight-led London Spirit in " rel="noopener noreferrer">The Hundred. In 2021, she received her county cap (number 36) from Kent in recognition of her achievements for the county.

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"I feel very fortunate to have had a returning spell of cricket which allowed me a taste of the new professional era of women’s domestic cricket,” Rowe said. “It’s a drastic change to when I initially left the game in 2015 at a time when there was very little T20 women’s domestic cricket around which was by far my favored format.”

Rowe reflected on her return to the cricket amidst the pandemic. "My return in 2020 was very different to what I had imagined given the pandemic, but the ability to have access to a professional set up with the South East Stars as well as the opportunity to play in The Hundred has been absolutely incredible and I will certainly hold fondly in my cricketing memories,” she said.

Kent’s head coach Dave Hathrill congratulated Rowe on her career, saying her experience added great value to a young South East Stars unit that managed to win the inaugural Charlotte Edwards Cup this season.

"Susie is a senior voice in a Kent Women dressing room that won all competitions we were a part in and she has provided invaluable experience for our young squad to learn from this year. On behalf of everyone at Kent Cricket, I’d like to thank Susie for her many years of service to the club.”

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Director of regional cricket at South East Stars, Richard Bedbrook, thanked Rowe for her involvement with the new and young team: "On behalf of the South East Stars, we thank Susie for her involvement as a player in the first two seasons of the new regional team and competitions.”

"A fitting region for Susie being that she represented both Kent and Surrey as a player in county cricket and a fitting bookend to her career as she was able to be a part of another historic step forwards in the women’s game," he concluded.