Charlie Shreck, a 6ft 7ins fast-medium bowler, started his first-class career late - he was 25 when he made his county debut for Nottinghamshire after being spotted playing league cricket in his native Cornwall. He had appeared for Worcestershire second XI in 1996, and also for Nottinghamshire seconds from 1999, and for four seasons had been a regular member of the Cornwall side.

He had a reasonable first two seasons in county cricket, but missed the whole of Nottinghamshire's Championship-winning campaign in 2005 after breaking down with a stress fracture of his back. He returned via a spell in New Zealand in 2005-06, and enjoyed his best summer in 2006 when he took over fifty wickets for the first time, including a hat-trick against Middlesex at Lord's as he returned figures of 8-31. He remained a consistent, if slightly injury-prone, wicket-taker and was rewarded with an England Lions call-up while playing for Wellington during the 2007-08 winter. One quirk in his career came in a Twenty20 match in 2007 when he was injured after bowling just one ball; it was driven fiercely back by Derbyshire's Michael Dighton, striking him on the shin.

First-team appearances for Nottinghamshire were not as plentiful as Shreck would have liked, however, given that he had captured almost 400 wickets in all forms since his 2002 debut , and he took the decision to seek a new county (thereby rejecting the offer of a benefit year) at the end of 2011.

It turned out to be a shrewd move, cricket-wise at least, for both the player and his new employers, Kent. Having played one match on loan for Kent in 2011, Shreck appeared in all 16 Championship fixtures in 2012 and topped the wickets column in both his Kent seasons. But Kent did not offer him a new contract at the end of the 2013 season so he was soon moving on again, making Leicestershire his third county. He was 36 when his Leicestershire career began, but he took 143 first-class wickets in his first three seasons, passing the 500 first-class wickets landmark in 2015 and assuming the role the following summer of bowling development coach

ESPNcricinfo staff