da poker： The former England batsman, Aftab Habib, who parted company with Essex last month, might have played his last match as a professional cricketer
Wisden Cricinfo Staff22-Jun-2005
Aftab Habib is now looking for a new career© Getty Images
The former England batsman, Aftab Habib, who parted company with Essexlast month, might have played his last match as a professional cricketer.Habib, 32, who played twice for England in 1999, had joined Essex in 2002 having been with Leicestershire for seven seasons, where he had helped them win the County Championship twice, and topped 1000 runs in 1999 and 2000. But afteraveraging 38 in his three seasons at Chelmsford, the Essex preferred to signGrant Flower than retain him.Despite contacting several counties, he has not been able to find one to sign him. “Things have not turned out as planned,” he said.”A few weeks ago it looked as though I was all set to join Middlesex, butjust when the deal was about to be signed and sealed they pulled out.Since then I’ve been in touch with Northamptonshire and, although theyexpressed interest, their financial constraints mean they have not been able totake things further even though I’m not asking for a lot in terms of money.”It’s disappointing I’ve not fixed up another club but there is nopoint in losing sleep over it,” he continued. “The time is fastapproaching when I need to consider moving in another direction. Acoaching post with a private school is one area I’m exploring, and it’s certainly a job I would feel at ease with.”