Cricket: CD allrounder retires

Central Districts allrounder Ewen Thompson has retired from first-class cricket.

Thompson, 30, has informed Central Districts officials he is unavailable for next season, including the Twenty20 Champions League, which Central Districts will contest later this year.

Instead, he is to start a new job as a player-coach for Northland Cricket.

He has ruled out making himself available for Northern Districts next season.

"I'm focusing on my other careers, which is coaching and in property," he told the Taranaki Daily News newspaper in New Plymouth.

Thompson was part of the New Zealand under-19 World Cup team in 1998 and made his first-class debut for Central Districts in 2000.

He played one Twenty20 international for New Zealand, against the West Indies in 2009.

He ends his first-class career having played 52 matches, scoring 1734 runs at an average of 26.27 and capturing 177 wickets at 30.00, including six five-wicket hauls. He took another 104 wickets in 69 domestic one-day matches.

- NZPA