Foxes bowler Wright to retire at end of the season

Wright has taken 799 wickets across all formats during his 22-year career

Veteran Leicestershire seamer Chris Wright is to hang up his boots at the end of the season after 22 years in the county game.

The 40-year-old has spent the last seven of those seasons with the Foxes and last week helped them seal a return to the top flight of the County Championship for the first time since 2003.

Wright began his professional career at Middlesex in 2004 and moved on to Essex and then Warwickshire, where he featured in the Bears' 2012 title triumph, before joining the Foxes at the end of the 2018 campaign.

He goes into Leicestershire's final two games of the season one wicket short of 800 across all formats, with 597 of those taken in first-class cricket.

"When I moved to Leicestershire, my goal was clear — to help the club return to first division cricket," Wright told the Foxes' website.

"Now that has finally been achieved, and having celebrated my 40th birthday, it feels like the perfect time to announce my retirement.

"I want to end on a high and help the boys go up as champions before giving back to the game I love and helping the next generation of players achieve their own ambitions."

Leicestershire are currently hosting Kent and end their campaign away to Northamptonshire next week, with a win in either game virtually certain to secure the title.