Lancashire all-rounder Kyle Hogg has been forced to retire from cricket because of a back injury.
The 31-year-old played in a 50-over game against Derbyshire at the start of August, but has now been advised to immediately retire on medical grounds.
Hogg was Lancashire's Player of the Year in 2013, taking 60 wickets at an average of 18.41 as they won promotion from Division Two, and was part of the side that won the Old Trafford's first County Championship title in 77 years in 2011.
"It has been cut short, but I've achieved a lot more than people have done in their careers," Hogg told BBC Radio Lancashire. "When you look at all the names that had gone before me at Old Trafford, a majority of them never won the Championship. No one can ever take that away from me.
"Over the past three years I've struggled with my back, I've gone down the rout of painkilling injections and all of that. This year it has been the build-up of a lot of other things and it got to a stage where I saw the specialist and he said, 'I think your time is up, put your ball and boots in the bin or give them away'.
"Even if you are thinking it, once the actual words come out of someone else's mouth it is a big shock. I can look back fondly and get on with the next stage of hopefully staying involved in cricket."
Hogg finishes his career with a first-class bowling record of 280 wickets at an average of 28.22, while he also made 2708 runs at 23.34 with the bat after debuting in the 2001 season.
Joe Fish
