England's Edwards announces retirement

Long-serving England captain Charlotte Edwards has announced her retirement from international cricket.

Edwards, 36, is England’s longest serving skipper – male or female – having become the first person to lead England in more than 200 matches last year.

"I have given 20 years to playing for England and I leave very proud of the standing in which the women's game is held and of my contribution as a player and captain," she told ecb.co.uk.

"As a 16-year-old girl making my debut for England, I couldn't have dreamt that I would have had such an amazing time with so much success.

"I've travelled the world, won World Cups and Ashes series and shared it all with some of my closest friends.

"However, nothing lasts forever. I believe now is the right time for a new captain to lead the team forward and for young players to be given more opportunities to make their mark on the international game."

Last month, Edwards had looked set to continue representing her county until the 2017 World Cup, which will be hosted by England, telling The Guardian she was targeting victory on home soil.

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Vice-captain Heather Knight is the most likely candidate to take over as skipper, having been Edwards’ deputy since mid-2014, while she led the Hobart Hurricanes during the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League season last summer.

With 23 Tests, 191 one-day internationals and 95 Twenty20s under her belt, Edwards has led her country since 2005 when she took over the role from former captain Clare Connor.

She took England to the 2009 World Cup and World T20 titles and claimed four Ashes series against Australia, with the most recent win coming in 2013-14.

However England have not found success at an ICC tournament since that 2009 World T20 victory, losing the 2012 and 2014 World T20 finals to Australia and failing to make the final of the 2013 World Cup.

The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars were also responsible for ending England’s campaign in the World T20 in India earlier this year, defeating Edwards’ team in the semi-finals.

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That failure prompted a blunt assessment from England coach Mark Robinson, who claimed that England needed to be “fitter” and “toughen up a little bit”.

Despite the disappointing result, Edwards was England’s highest run scorer at the tournament, scoring 202 runs at 50.50 including two fifties – a record bettered only by West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor.

She remains England’s top-ranked batter in T20s – ranked No.3 overall – and sits No.7 in the ODI charts, with Sarah Taylor the only Englishwomen ahead of her.

The all-time highest female runs scorer in ODIs, with 5992 runs, Edwards also tops the T20 runs tally with 2605. Her 1676 Test runs is second only to compatriot Janette Brittin.

Edwards was also the first woman to join the MCC world cricket committee in 2012, and is now set to skipper the Southern Vipers in the inaugural Women’s Super League in England in July, where she will lead a team featuring Southern Stars quick Megan Schutt.

England’s next assignment is a home series against Pakistan beginning on June 20, where they will be fighting to improve their standing in the Women’s One-Day Championship ladder.

They currently sit sixth on the table with 13 points and nine matches left to play and will be desperate to climb into the top four by the end of the year to gain automatic qualification to next year’s Women’s World Cup.

Australia currently sit on top of the table with 24 points, ahead of the West Indies on 20.

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