Luke Wright: “It’s been seven years with the Melbourne Stars, and it’s been a time that I’ve absolutely loved and will cherish”

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Former England batsman Luke Wright has announced that he will be bidding the Melbourne Stars adieu after spending seven seasons with the Big Bash League (BBL) franchise.

With Wright having been ruled out of the clash against the Sydney Thunder on Saturday, he confirmed that his time with the Stars has come to an end.

“It’s been seven years with the Melbourne Stars, and it’s been a time that I’ve absolutely loved and will cherish,” Wright was quoted as saying by bigbash.com.au. “I’m enormously proud to have been a foundation member and I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to play for such a long time and amongst so many great players and teammates.

“I’ve forged so many good friendships on and off the field and it’s been incredible to be part of such a tremendous club. I’ve loved running out onto the MCG in front of a terrific bunch of fans who’ve been so supportive.

“Obviously, it’s not the farewell I’d imagined, but that’s cricket. I leave with nothing but great memories of my time here and I wish the boys, and the club generally, all the best in the years to come. This chapter of my career is closed but I look forward to the next phase, and catching up with many of these guys down the track.”

Not only is Wright the Stars’ most capped player with 57 games under his belt, he is also the franchise’s leading run-scorer with 1,480 runs at an average of 29.02.

He also held the record for the highest score in BBL history when he smashed an unbeaten 117 against the Hobart Hurricanes in 2012. His record was recently broken by Hurricanes opener D’Arcy Short, who scored an unbeaten 122 against the Brisbane Heat earlier this month.