Saggers played three Tests for England, taking seven wickets

Kent captain Rob Key has described bowler Martin Saggers as the county's "unsung hero", after the seamer announced his retirement from the game.

The 37-year-old is ending his 10-year association with the club after failing to recover from a knee injury.

"It's phenomenal really - if you look at a guy who came in as a trialist almost, having been sacked from a county," Key told BBC Radio Kent.

"He's been a fantastic servant to Kent and along the way an unsung hero."

Key added: "To get the years out of him that we did, with the quality, and for him to go and play for England speaks volumes about a bloke who never gave up.

"A lot of our success - playing well and maintaining first division status in the early days - was a lot down to him.

"He was a standout bowler by a long way.

"We had Amjad Khan, Ben Trott and David Masters, but Saggers was always the one who led our attack for a number of years.

"He did it when people thought he might not be able to come back and he kept coming back and he's been a credit to himself and just having a big heart and showing what you can do," said Key.

Saggers had little success in his three seasons at Durham, but then joined Kent 1999 and went on to play in 119 first-class matches, taking 415 wickets.

He also played in three Test matches for England.

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