Gloucestershire seamer Craig Miles has announced his retirement from professional cricket at 32 to prioritise his mental health, ending a 16-season career with 512 wickets across formats and a County Championship winners' medal.
Craig Miles, the Gloucestershire and former Warwickshire seam bowler, has announced his retirement from professional cricket at the age of 32 to prioritise his mental health. The announcement came in an open letter to Gloucestershire's fans on 2 October, bringing down the curtain on a 16-season career that brought 512 wickets across formats.
| Career snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Age at retirement | 32 |
| Counties | Gloucestershire, Warwickshire |
| Wickets (all formats) | 512 |
| First-class wickets | 368 at 28.58 |
| Debut | May 2011, aged 16 |
| Peak | County Championship winner 2021 (Warwickshire) |
What he said
In the letter, Miles wrote: "It's with sadness, but also with huge pride, that I can announce my retirement from professional cricket." He acknowledged the toll the game had taken: "The high expectations I place on myself and the standards I've always tried to reach have often been the catalyst for these periods... When you add in the volatility and uncertainty that cricket naturally brings, it becomes an unforgiving and ultimately unsustainable way to approach the game." He thanked his family, colleagues, the Professional Cricketers' Association and the mental health charity Sporting Chance.
Gloucestershire director of cricket Jon Lewis called the decision "incredibly brave", adding: "The vulnerability he has shown in talking about what he's been going through is a real strength of his... he does so with the full backing of everyone at the club." Miles had been on a leave of absence with the club since the early rounds of the T20 Blast in June, having played four Championship matches at the start of the season.
The career in brief
Miles debuted for Gloucestershire in May 2011 at 16, the fourth-youngest player in the club's history. In 2015 he was named the club's Young Player of the Year after 12 wickets, including a one-day best of 4 for 29 against Yorkshire, on the way to the Royal London One-Day Cup final win. Seven seasons at Warwickshire followed from 2018 to 2024, the peak coming in the 2021 County Championship triumph with 37 wickets at 21.81, and 5 for 28 in the first innings of the Bob Willis Trophy Final at Lord's that summer, which Warwickshire won by an innings and 199 runs over Lancashire. He returned to Gloucestershire last season.
A wider conversation
Miles is the latest cricketer to step away to protect his mental health, and his openness adds to a growing willingness in the game to talk about it. Retiring at 32 with more than 200 first-class games behind him, he said making the decision now "allows me to look back on my career with fondness and gratitude towards a game that has given me so much."
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