Harry Gurney, who played in the IPL as well as a couple of games for England, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
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Harry Gurney had made a mark as a bowler who had intelligent variations. In the conservative period of England cricket in which they were ODI and T20I laggards, Gurney was not utilized much. If only Gurney was active in the modern era, he would have become a legend. For Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, Gurney put on an impressive show that saw his death bowling skills go up a different notch. When one talks about franchise cricket, Gurney is already a legend.
He won the 2018-19 Big Bash with Melbourne Renegades in his first winter of franchise cricket. This fetched him a seat in the Kolkata Knight Riders side. Gurney was one of the England players to bid adieu to red-ball cricket and it paid off. The left-arm pacer won the CPL with Barbados Tridents in 2019.
However, a long-standing shoulder injury forced the retirement of Gurney. When he announced it on Friday, Gurney said his career exceeded expectations. “After trying to recover from the recent injury to my shoulder, I am truly disappointed to have to end my playing career as a result of it. From the first time I picked up a cricket ball at the age of ten, I was completely obsessed. Cricket has been my life for 24 years and has taken me on an incredible journey that I will cherish forever,” Gurney said.
Before his retirement, there were plans for Gurney of life beyind the game. He and Stuart Broad founded the Cat and Wickets Pub Company back in 2016. The business has two Leicestershire pubs. They are the Tap and Run at Upper Broughton near Melton and The Three Crowns at Wymeswold, a couple of miles down the road.
Even during the coronavirus lockdown for three months, the pub performed well on reopening. Despite social distancing measures and lower capacity with the removal of some tables, they are reported to be operating at 84 per cent of what they were doing this time last year.
The pub reported positive trading figures despite making the pubs Covid-compliant and closing on Mondays and Tuesdays. In August, Gurney and Broad’s pubs were open all seven days as they took part in the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
In IPL 2019, Gurney picked up eight wickets in seven matches for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was Leicestershire’s leading wicket-taker in the 2011 Friends Life T20 with 23 scalps. His reputation began to blossom in 2013. Gurney finished the Championship season as Nottinghamshire’s leading wicket-taker, taking 44 wickets at 30. In 156 T20s, he took 190 wickets at an average of 22 and a strike-rate of 17.
Overall, he finished with 614 wickets in his career. Now, Gurney might focus primarily on his pub business as he looks for life beyond cricket.
