Photo via BBC Sport

Gloucestershire seamer Charlesworth to retire because of injury

Gloucestershire pace bowler Luke Charlesworth has announced that he will step down from professional cricket once the current campaign concludes due to persistent back issues. The 23-year-old has been sidelined since sustaining the damage in early August.

After consulting specialists to evaluate potential treatments, he was informed that stepping away was necessary to protect his future health, culminating three years of disrupted rehab work that cut his playing ambitions short.

A product of the Gloucestershire youth system and the younger sibling of team-mate Ben Charlesworth, the seamer first broke into the senior squad in 2023. Across his 11 matches in all competitions, he collected 11 wickets, highlighted by a personal best of 3-42 against Kent during this year's One-Day Cup.