Middlesex Cricket can today confirm that Tim Murtagh will retire from professional cricket at the end of the season.

Middlesex legend Tim Murtagh is retiring at the end of the season, ending a career with the county that has spanned more than two decades.

Murtagh, 42, has been named in the Middlesex squad to face Warwickshire at Lord's this week, where the club will continue their fight to stay in Division One of the County Championship, with a final game of the season against Nottinghamshire will be held at Trent Bridge.

If he is selected against Warwickshire, the game would be the 264th first-class appearance of his career and his 91st at Lord's, a venue where he confirmed his consistent class earlier this season by taking the fifth ten-wicket haul of his career – including his own 1,000th wicket for Middlesex – in an emphatic nine-wicket win over Kent.

Murtagh moved from Surrey to Middlesex at the start of the 2007 season, having already played 128 career games in all three forms of the game between 2000 and 2006, taking 182 wickets for our London rivals.

In his first season with Middlesex, Murtagh played 39 games for the club, taking a total of 82 wickets in all competitions. In his debut year he played thirteen of Middlesex's sixteen county championship games.

Since then, Murtagh has been one of the first names on the Middlesex squad in first-class cricket and has proven ever-reliable with the ball in hand. To date, he has played 213 first-class matches for the club, taking an incredible 835 wickets at an average of just 23.63.

He has featured in two promotion campaigns for Middlesex, in 2011 and 2022, in the club's T20 winning campaign in 2008 and played a leading role in Middlesex's County Championship title win in 2016.

Earlier this year the club announced that Murtagh would take on a player/coach role in 2023, working with the bowling group when not active. This journey continues Murtagh's relationship with Middlesex, with the club offering him a full-time coaching position when he retires from football.

Alan Coleman, the club's director of cricket, said of Murtagh's retirement from the game: “Players like Murts are so rare that when you get one you have to assume you are blessed. He is an absolute gem, both on and off the field.

“These words have been running through my head for around ten years, but now it’s time to put them on paper,” Murtagh said in a statement released by the club.

“It is with great pride and a touch of sadness that I announce my retirement from cricket at the end of this season. After an incredible 25 years, it's finally time to hang up the Speed ​​Menace boots (the irony is not lost on me). Years of enjoyment of professional sports.

“It has been an incredible honor to play for this great club since 2007 and I am grateful to everyone who made me feel immediately at home here. Right down to the current management, who helped me with the transition from active club status this year. I still hope so.” have played a big part in keeping us in Division One over the last two weeks.

Murtagh's career wickets tally currently stands at 1341, including 951 in a first-class career that began with Surrey in 2000 before moving to Middlesex in 2007.