English cricket star Luke Wright has decided to not to put himself forward to play in the IPL next year as he opts to start the season with Sussex for the first time since 2009.
Wright has missed the opening games of the County Championships for the last four years, 2010 and 2011 due to injury, 2012 and 2013 playing for Indian outfit Pune Warriors, yet the 29-year-old is determined to stay and England and help Sussex end a six-year trophy drought.
Wright said: “The IPL is a great experience for a player and obviously the money is good but I am going to give it a miss next year. It may be something I look at again in the future but with it being my benefit year I want to be around for the whole season."
“I’m honoured to have been awarded a benefit and I don’t think it would have been right if I’d missed the start of the year by going to the IPL. I also want to play a full season if possible and help Sussex try to win things."
“We weren’t too far off in the Championship last year and I’d like to think we can challenge next season while we know we must improve in white ball cricket and so I want to be fully focused on that too."
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Wright will line up for the Melbourne Stars this winter alongside controversial former England star Kevin Pietersen, before returning to the UK in February.
Best ever
The Englishman will be looking to build upon his best ever campaign with the bat, after he scored 933 runs in only 12 matches, and will be hoping that playing a full season can help him break the 1,000 barrier for the first time in his career.
“I didn’t miss out by many and if I’d played all 16 games I’d like to think I would have got around 1,200 or 1,300 runs,” said Wright. “A top five batsman who plays all the games should get a minimum of 1,000 runs so hopefully I can achieve that next season."
“I want to be scoring runs to help us be successful and it would be perfect if I could carry on from where I left off last season and help us win some silverware in my benefit season.”
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