Jeremy Bray scored a century in the 2007 World Cup against Zimbabwe

Jeremy Bray has retired from international cricket after playing 83 times for Ireland as a left-handed opening batsman.

Bray scored seven centuries in making a total of 2812 Irish runs and was a key member of the 2007 World Cup squad.

"I'm not getting any younger," said the 36-year-old Australian native.

"It's hard to get up to the levels of fitness now required and the team has an incredibly demanding schedule over the next few years."

Bray added:"I have had some wonderful memories and will always be grateful to Ireland for giving me the opportunity.

"I'd like to thank Adi Birrell for the faith he showed in me and Phil Simmons for giving me the chance to make a comeback after being out of the side for two years.

"The Irish fans are superb and I'll never forget the atmosphere of the World Cup in the West Indies."

Bray played a vital role in Ireland's 2007 World Cup exploits with his unbeaten 115 helping the minnows earning an opening tie with Zimbabwe.

Kyle McCallan retired from Ireland duty last month

The former Australian Under-19 player was also man-of-the-match in the 2007 Intercontinental Cup final against Canada, scoring 146 in an opening stand of 202 with Porterfield as Ireland won by an innings.

After making his debut in 2002, Bray's return of 2812 runs at an average of 31.95, places him ninth on Ireland's all-time list in terms of both total runs and average.

He shared in the second highest in Irish cricket history, a stand of 304 with Niall O'Brien in 2005 against the United Arab Emirates.

Bray is the sixth member of the 2007 World Cup squad to quit the national team.

Paul Mooney, Peter Gillespie, Dave Langford-Smith and Kyle McCallan have all retired, while Eoin Morgan has switched allegiances to England.

Meanwhile, Ireland's Intercontinental Cup match between against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka later this month has been brought forward by two days.

The Irish face Afghanistan in Dambulla and the four-day game will now start on 21 January following a request by Sri Lanka Cricket.

Presidential elections take place on 26 January - originally scheduled as the final day of the game - and Sri Lanka Cricket requested the move for security and logistics reasons.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version