Ryan Sidebottom will retire at the end of this county season

These days I think that in most sports, not just cricket, the people playing it realise that there is more to life than playing. Whereas players like Anderson have said they want to carry on for as long as they can, others choose to go down a different route. Sidebottom obviously thought it was the right time to call it a day, and it can only be his decision.

When he does retire he can be proud of his career, even though I'm not sure he reached the heights he could have done, and he certainly wasn't as popular as other players of his generation so I'm not sure that the media outlets will be bending over backwards to sign him up as a reporter or presenter like they do with a lot of others. It would be nice to see players like Sidebottom stay in the game to some capacity, but doing what though I'm not sure.

That can go both ways really. Some really love the game and want to extend their activity for as long as possible, while others prefer to retire when they feel it's already too much. I say that it depends a lot on each one's personality.

I do agree with that, and it's up to the individual to decide whats best for them, but with Sidebottom I wouldn't have thought that he'd have a life still IN cricket planned after his retirement so I'd be interested to know what he is planning to do. While I've no doubt that he will have ideas about what he is going to do, Sidebottom to me as always come across as a cricketer that loves the game and wasn't in the sport for fame and fortune, it was purely because of his love of the game.

Yeah, in his case the love for the game might be strong as you say, but one's got to eat too!  One thing I do notice a lot in sportsmen is that many of them don't plan retirement properly, so that's an aspect to improve.

I think that a few years ago that was the case, maybe not so much these days. I think that sportsmen and women now have a solid structure around them that they didn't have a few years ago. Managers, agents, financial advisers will have a say in what they do and have done with what they have earned out of the game, so most will be able to live comfortably when they do decide to retire.

They may not be all millionaires, but I very much doubt we will see any of them down the food bank or struggling to pay their utility bills.

Yeah, certainly it has improved a lot, but their earnings have sky rocketed too, so no surprise they surround themselves by financial advisors in order to capitalize on their earnings and on their early retirement.