THE retirement of Harry Gurney, at the age of 34, concludes a very modern career. A left-arm bowler of brisk medium pace, based with Nottinghamshire, Gurney found his metier in T20 cricket where he represented a slew of franchises, winning eight trophies in the process.
Yet even in that specialism Gurney was a specialist. He couldn’t bat for toffee; his fielding was average; and his bowling unexceptional except at the death, the period at the end of an innings where batsmen are swinging at everything. In those few overs, though, he was a master, his ability to hit the blockhole, ...