6 Cricketers who retired early to pursue other interests

It is an incredible achievement for a cricket player to represent their country in an international game. It requires years of hard work, determination, and courage to stay motivated hoping to play the game, one day. There have been instances when talented cricketers have not been able to play at an international level, while mediocre players have gone on to represent their country for years.

There have been six cricket players who played for their country in an international game, but later on, retired early to pursue other interests. We take a look at such players and their journey.

#6 Travis Friend - Zimbabwe

Travis Friend became a commercial pilot

Travis Friend was a genuine pace bowler, who made his international debut against India in 2001. During 2005, there was a stand-off between the board and the players regarding their contracts. 15 players rebelled including Friend and Heath Streak. He did not retire officially, but never returned to the international side post the tussle.

Friend played for Derbyshire till he found his interest in flying. He trained to be a commercial pilot and has flown with the Qatar Airways and Flybe as a pilot.

#5 Alex Loudon - England

Alex Loudon playing for Warwickshire in 2007

Alex Loudon was a prodigious player during college days, who started playing County Cricket within no time. He was an all-rounder and was once hailed as England's own "mystery spinner." He made his international debut against Sri Lanka in 2006 which also turned out to be his last ODI match. At 27, he announced retirement and started pursuing a career in business.

Loudon started working in corporate finance and investment management before launching his new investment firm, Abercross Holdings. Loudon's family background in finance made his job easy to shift from cricket to the corporate world.

#4 George Thoms - Australia

George Thoms standing in this picture

George Thoms was a trained gynecologist. He was a right-hand batsman who only played one Test match for Australia. He quit his international stint prematurely, for fear of getting his hand injured which would have ended his career as a gynecological surgeon. Thoms scored 16 and 28 in his debut match against the West Indies in 1952.

He went on to become a surgeon in Australia and introduced the concept of laser surgery in the mid-1970s.

#3 Henry Olonga - Zimbabwe

Henry Olonga - Zimbabwe headshots

Henry Olonga was a right-arm fast bowler who played for Zimbabwe for seven years until he retired in 2004. He belonged to the group of fellow cricketers who wore a black armband in the 2003 World Cup to disapprove the "death of democracy" in their country. He shifted to England and played County cricket until a knee injury forced him to call it quits.

Olonga was also a singer hence pursued his career in music. He regularly features in media and entertainment channels promoting his work. Besides this, he regularly features on TV as a commentator. Vision Sports Publishing released his autobiography, Blood, Sweat and Treason, in July 2010.

#2 Zafar Ansari - England

Zafar Ansari - practicing in the nets

Zafar Ansari made his debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka. He played 3 Test matches and one ODI match before suddenly announcing his retirement within few months to study politics and sociology from Cambridge University. Ansari went on to do masters in history and wrote few papers on apartheid

Both his parents were Professor hence he was always more interested in the academics since childhood. Kevin Pietersen, his teammate at Surrey, tweeted: “Way too clever to be a cricketer!”

#1 Fabian Cowdrey

Fabian Cowdrey - Somerset v Kent

Fabian Cowdrey belonged to the legendary "Cowdrey" clan. He was a left-arm spin bowler and right-hand batsman with tremendous abilities and potential. He played 12 First-class games in which his average was 18.6, aggregating 372 runs. Cowdrey also managed to take three wickets, while representing Kent for four seasons from 2013 to 2016. His performance in T20s had been tremendous.

He quit cricket a few years ago, to help his brother, Julius in his artistic endeavors. Cowdrey wrote the debut song of his brother which became a major hit. Post the success of the album he has dedicated himself completely to music.