Ronnie Irani

Who is Ronnie Irani?

Ronald Charles "Ronnie" Irani is a former England cricketer who spent most of his career at Essex County Cricket Club, latterly as captain, after starting at Lancashire. He is of Irani descent, the Iranis being a community of Persian Zoroastrians who immigrated to India during the British Raj. He played only three Tests for England, with decidedly mixed success, but found a niche in One Day Internationals. Irani was a genuine all-rounder until a knee injury in 2003 forced him to stop bowling and play as a specialist batsman. The recurring nature of this injury led to Irani being forced to retire from first-class cricket in June 2007.

At Essex, Irani helped bring through promising players such as Alastair Cook and Ravinder Bopara as well as winning two major One-Day Titles. Professionally he scored over 20,000 runs and took more than 650 wickets during his career.

He announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the end of the 2007 season.