ABERGAVENNY cricketer and former Glamorgan batsman Mike Powell has announced his retirement at the age of 36.

Powell, cut his teeth at Avenue Road before scaling the heights with Glamorgan, where during a 15 year spell, he scored 25 first-class centuries and recorded the second highest innings in the county's history when he notched up a tally of 299 against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.

Powell featured in the Glamorgan side that won the National League in 2002 and 2004, and played in the 1997 team that won the County Championship. He also played at Lord's when 'Glam' were beaten in the final of the 2000 Benson and Hedges Cup.

For the last two seasons Powell has played for Kent and cites physical reasons for his retirement, "I have had an extremely rewarding and wonderful career and I owe a lot to many people within cricket and everyone who has supported me, but the body cannot do what it used to do," explained Powell, who added, "I could probably play on for a couple of years but it's now time to move on in my life."