The Yorkshire County Cricket Club can confirm that Andrew Hodd intends to retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2018 season.

Hodd, 34, a four-time Specsavers County Championship winner will call time on a near 17-year First-Class career which has included 113 First-Class matches and counting.

“I’ve come to the decision over the last couple of months,” he told yorkshireccc.com. “I thought I’d got over the emotional bit when I made it final to myself a couple of weeks back, but telling the boys was hard and I’ll miss all of them.

“Because it’s all I’ve ever really known, I think there will be a long, long line of things I will miss, but first and foremost the boys will be the ones I miss. Half the reason you start playing cricket is for the changing room antics and atmosphere. I’ll miss them all the way down from the staff and Martyn Moxon to the youngest guy on the staff. I can call them all close friends and I’ll miss them.”

The charismatic wicket-keeper, who scored a half-century on his Championship debut for the White Rose against Derbyshire, as well as taking five catches in the first innings, initially moved to Emerald Headingley on loan from Sussex and impressed enough to earn a two-year contract ahead of the 2013 season.

After a difficult end to his time at home county Sussex, the move appeared to help him rekindle his love of the game. Title-winning successes in 2014 and 2015 resulted in Hodd receiving his county cap from the late John Hampshire shortly before Yorkshire’s County Championship win over Lancashire in May 2016. And it’s a moment that will live long in his memory.

Hodd continued: “Over the past 15 years I’ve had lots of ups and quite a few downs. The Championship wins were great and I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in some good squads, but on a personal note coming up to Yorkshire and falling in love with the game again, becoming part of the club and then being honoured by receiving my county cap was massive for me personally. Any time you win a trophy gives you that shared purpose with the guys that helped you achieve it and have been with you all the way through. I think that’s what I’ll miss most, those great wins.

“I was as soft and southern as they come really when I first came up here. Thankfully I had a few mates already in the dressing room in Galey (Andrew Gale) and Bres (Tim Bresnan) and Diz (Jason Gillespie) was massive in reigniting that love of the game. I fell in love with Yorkshire the place just as much as I did with the cricket. My first born is a Yorkshireman and I’ll make sure he grows up being a die-hard Yorkshire fan.”

With nine fixtures still remaining in the County Championship and the club taking on Essex in a Royal London play-off at Chelmsford on Thursday, Hodd believes success could be just around the corner for the class of 2018.

“I’d love to see the boys in a Lord’s final,” he said. “That would be a great way to go out. The Championship is wide open and all to play for. If we play to our potential we can go and get some silverware at the end of the season.”

Hodd, widely regarded as one of the best genuine glovemen in county cricket, has taken 274 catches and made 23 stumpings, scoring 3700 First-Class runs in the process. Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon is quick to point out that his impact has been much more far reaching than his on-field efforts.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with Andrew over the last seven years,” he said. “He has been a brilliant wicket-keeper throughout his career. His influence on the team here at Yorkshire has been outstanding.

“I hope that he can enjoy the final few months of his career and would like to thank him for his contribution to Yorkshire cricket and wish him well for the future.”

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