Ramprakash set to retire

LONDON: Former England batsman Mark Ramprakash is poised to anounce his retirement from first-class cricket after county side Surrey said he would be "making a statement about his future" at The Oval on Thursday.

Ramprakash, a prolific run scorer at first-class level, was unable to transfer his domestic form to the international stage with just two hundreds in 52 Tests.

But it has been a different story during a 25-year first-class career that started at Middlesex before he moved across London to Surrey 11 years ago.

He has scored 35,659 runs in 461 first-class matches since his county debut in 1987, and more than 13,000 in limited-overs cricket.

However, the 42-year-old, widely regarded as likely being the last man in cricket history to make 100 first-class hundreds because of the reduction in domestic fixtures, was dropped by Surrey for the first time earlier this season as he struggled for runs.

Ramprakash, as was the case with his some-time England team-mate Graeme Hick, endured a frustrating international career, averaging a modest 27.32 in Tests -- barely half his county return.

He managed just two Test hundreds, with a best of 154 against the West Indies in Bridgetown in 1998 and 133 against Australia at The Oval in 2001.

Ramprakash also played in 18 one-day internationals.

At county level, he topped 1,000 runs in 20 separate seasons and three times made more than 2,000 - in 1995, 2006 and 2007.

His highest-first class score is an unbeaten 301, for Surrey against Northamptonshire, at The Oval in 2006.

Ramprakash became known beyond cricket circles after winning BBC television's 'Strictly Come Dancing' celebrity dance competition in 2006.

A Surrey statement issued Wednesday said: "Surrey County Cricket Club will be hosting a press conference with Mark Ramprakash on Thursday 5th July at the Kia Oval, where Mark would like to make a statement about his future." (AFP)