England veteran bowler Katherine Brunt has announced her retirement from regional and county cricket.
Brunt will play The Hundred for Trent Rockets this summer but will not play for Northern Diamonds or Yorkshire.
“I don’t want to open bowling for Yorkshire or the Diamonds when someone like Lizzie Scott is absolutely capable of doing that,” she said.
Brunt, 37, last played county cricket in 2019, when she made her 100th appearance for Yorkshire.
Brunt won the County Championship with Yorkshire in 2015 and will play for England at next month’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.
She only played eight times for Northern Diamonds in the first three years of regional cricket, sometimes as a batsman rather than a bowler.
“I’ve played a few games over the last few seasons, but that’s two or three at most a year,” she said. “That’s all the schedule allowed. That goes for most players who play all three formats for England.
“I don’t want to take someone’s place in the team. I don’t think it’s fair when there are so many good young talents in this Diamonds setup.”
Brunt, who is England’s top wicket-taker in the ODI and T20I internationals, retired from Test cricket last summer.
