Kent’s Susie Rowe has retired from all forms of cricket after an 11-year professional career.

Originally having played for Kent from 2004 until 2012, Rowe re-joined ahead of the 2020 season, and she contributed towards Kent tournament wins in the Women’s County T20 South East group and the Women’s London Championship this year.

The 34-year-old former England Women international had already been a part of five Women’s County Championship title-winning sides (in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012) and two Kent teams that won the National Women’s T20 competition in 2011 and 2012.

Rowe scored 1,414 runs in total at an average of 33 across both formats for Kent in her career. Her Kent high-score of 67 runs from 59 balls came in a T20 match against Yorkshire in August 2012.

In 2021, she received her county cap (number 36) from Kent in recognition of her achievements for the Horses.

She feels women’s cricket has evolved significantly since she first left the sport in 2015.

Rowe said: “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.

“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 favoured format.

“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 something I will certainly hold fondly in my cricketing memories.

“I’d like to thank Kent Cricket and the South East Stars, as well as St Lawrence and Highland Court CC, who all helped me get back into the game and be able to train and play as a professional cricketer.

“It’s a new era of professional women’s cricket and, although I’ve loved being part of it all, it's unfortunately not something I can sustain alongside my full-time PE teaching and director of cricket job at Radnor House Sevenoaks.

“It’s very exciting to see the direction that women’s cricket is taking in this country and I’ll always be involved in the game through both my school teaching and club coaching roles, and will always take great pride and reward in helping to inspire boys and girls to want to play the game."

Kent Women head coach Dave Hathrill said: “Susie is a senior voice in a Kent Women dressing room that won all competitions we were a part of 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, being a part of so many trophy-winning sides, and we all wish her the very best for the future.”

Director of regional women’s cricket at South East Stars, Richard Bedbrook, said: “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.”

Lewisham-born Rowe also made 23 appearances for England between 2011 and 2013 in limited overs cricket, as well as featuring for the South East Stars in women’s regional cricket and London Spirit in the first edition of The Hundred.

After originally stepping away from cricket in 2015, following two seasons playing for Surrey, Rowe featured in the England Hockey National League Premier Division for Canterbury.

She had earlier played hockey for England under-21s, and still plays in the National League for Sevenoaks.

The news follows Kent's Fran Wilson announcing her international retirement last week.

Wilson, 29, featured in three World Cups, including being part of the team that lifted the ICC Women’s World Cup trophy at Lord’s in 2017.

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