The other retirement

Nasser Hussain's retirement may have dominated cricket's column inches but another Essex batsman who made his England debut in the 1980s has left the club in quieter circumstances. John Stephenson, 39, has taken up a post as MCC's head of cricket, and said goodbye to the Essex dressing room for the second time. "You always miss the dressing room, you get so used to it. It's hard to give it up but I'm very lucky with my new job. Opportunities like this don't come up too often," says Stephenson.

His new role will include organising MCC's playing and touring programmes and supervising the MCC Young Cricketers programme. Stephenson made his debut for Essex in 1985 and played his only Test in 1989, opening with Graham Gooch against Australia at The Oval. He had a spell at Hampshire from 1996 to 2001 but returned to Essex in 2002, originally to captain the 2nd XI, but his good form meant he played the majority of games in the Championship, ending up as Essex's leading wicket-taker that year. "I'm very proud of the couple of Championships we won and coming back in 2002 was a very special moment," says Stephenson. "But there are a lot of young guys coming through and it's good to still have the chance to leave on my own terms."

Moment of the month James Foster's 212 against Leicestershire in the Championship, just as England were looking for their wicketkeepers to show they can score serious runs.