THE upcoming season will be Graham Napier’s last with the Essex all-rounder retiring from cricket at the end of the 2016 summer.
The 36-year-old is a one county man having made his Essex debut in 1997 and has played 157 first-class matches.
He has also appeared in 97 twenty20 matches for Essex and was included in England’s squad for the 2009 World Twenty20, but did not make an appearance in the tournament.
It’s not the end for Napier though who will become director of the cricket academy named after him at the Royal Hospital School in Suffolk.
Napier said: “The opportunity at RHS is one that I could not turn down. I feel the time is right to move on, and give back to the game that has given me so much.
“I have loved every second of playing for Essex, and will be doing my best to make sure I retire with a bang at the end of the season.”
