Daryl Mitchell: Worcestershire legend to retire at end of 2021 season, aged 37
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As well as making almost 14,000 first-class runs, Daryl Mitchell is the only Worcestershire player to have taken 100 wickets in T20
Worcestershire legend Daryl Mitchell is to retire at the end of the season, after 19 years of service at New Road.
The prolific opener, who captained the Pears for six seasons, was offered a new deal but only for red-ball cricket.
Mitchell, 37, who had been Professional Cricketers' Association chairman since 2017, will instead concentrate on his full-time role with the PCA.
"It's been a great time for me here," said Mitchell. "I will slip into the PCA role full-time as of October."
He added: "I'm in a lucky and privileged position to be able to make the transition from playing to that role."
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Mitchell was the first Worcestershire captain born within the county boundary in 85 years when he took over as skipper from Vikram Solanki, external in August 2010.
The Pears twice won promotion to Division One of the County Championship under his captaincy, which he gave up at the end of the 2016 season when he was replaced by Joe Leach and was then elected PCA chairman.
He was also a member of the Worcestershire team that won the Pro40 title in 2007 and the T20 Blast in 2018.
As well as his 2,310 runs at 22.87 in T20, Mitchell is the only Worcestershire player to have taken a century of wickets with his often game-changing medium pacers - a tally that now stands at 101, at an economy rate of 7.68.
He also made 3,466 runs at 33.65 in List A cricket, in which he took 81 wickets.
Daryl Mitchell has made 533 appearances for Worcestershire in all competitions since his debut at the age of 21 in June 2005
In the first-class game, he had an unusual introduction to County Championship cricket as Worcestershire's first mid-match substitute in June 2005 when Gareth Batty was called up for Test duty during an away game against Somerset at Bath - and Mitchell played the final two days.
He lasted 42 minutes to make just 4 before being trapped leg before wicket by Andy Caddick. But he made up for it the following week when, on his full debut, batting number six, he made an unbeaten five-hour half-century for the Pears against Leicestershire at Grace Road.
He opened the batting for the first time in the final game of that 2005 season - and he has remained there ever since in red-ball cricket, going on to hit 38 hundreds (sixth on Worcestershire's all-time list of centurions) in his tally of 13,874 first-class runs at an average of 38.75.
Changes at New Road
Mitchell's farewell is the latest in a string of departures of experienced players from New Road in recent weeks.
Riki Wessels left on 31 July after being allowed an early release from his contract which was due to expire at the end of the season.
Ross Whiteley then announced that he would not be taking up the offer of a new contract and is now a target for both Sussex and Yorkshire.
In addition, Wayne Parnell did not see out the final scheduled year of his three-year contract and signed instead for Northants in March, as the Pears could no longer use him as a Kolpak player following Brexit.
Aside from Mitchell, Whiteley and Parnell, there is already speculation over the future of another member of Worcestershire's T20 Blast-winning side from three years ago, Moeen Ali.
The England all-rounder has just one season left on the five-year deal he signed in November 2017.
Birmingham-born Moeen, 34, has long been linked with a move back to Edgbaston to join his first county Warwickshire - and he captained Birmingham Phoenix to this summer's first Hundred final.