Saurashtra batting stalwart Sheldon Jackson retires from first-class cricket after 15-year career

New Delhi: Prolific Saurashtra batter Sheldon Jackson on Tuesday retired from professional cricket after a career spanning 15 years, his last outing ending in a defeat to Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here.

Jackson, 38, retires with more than 7200 runs in 105 first-class matches with a highest score of 186, 21 hundreds and 39 half-centuries.

That he ended his career with an average of over 45 speaks volumes about his consistency in first-class cricket.

Jackson has been a multidimensional cricketer and besides being a reliable batsman and an excellent fielder. He also kept wickets for Saurashtra in the limited-over competitions.

In the longer format, however, he was not required to do the duty thanks to Sagar Jogiyani's presence.

He scored 14 and 27 in his final two outings as Gujarat won by an innings and 98 runs.

Jackson, who was once part of the Kolkata Knight Riders set-up after being spotted by former Bengal player Joydeep Mukherjee, made his debut for Saurashtra in December 2011.

After being on the fringes of selection for his state team Saurashtra for three years, he made his debut in December 2011.

He made four fifties and three hundreds in the 2012-13 Ranji season, including back-to-back centuries in the quarter-final and semi-final against Karnataka and Punjab respectively, to help Saurashtra qualify for the final for the first time.

Owing to his excellent run with the bat that year, he broke into the India A team for the series against West Indies A at home. He was also a prominent member in Saurashtra's second charge towards a Ranji Trophy title in the 2015-16 season.

Last month, Jackson had called time on his limited-overs career after scoring 2792 runs in 84 innings, with his highest being an unbeaten 133 during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2022.

In the limited-overs game, he struck nine centuries and 14 half-centuries in all.