England women's cricket captain Charlotte Edwards announces her international retirement

England women's captain Charlotte Edwards has retired from international cricket. The 36-year-old has decided to end her 21-year international career after holding talks with England coach Mark Robinson and Clare Connor, the ECB head of women's cricket.

Edwards played in 23 Test matches, 191 one-day internationals and 95 Twenty20 internationals, and is the all-time leading ODI run-scorer in women's cricket. The right-hander has also scored more T20 international runs than any other player in the world, man or woman.

"As a 16-year-old girl making my debut for England, I couldn't have dreamt that I would have had such an amazing time with so much success," she said in a statement, according to the BBC. "I've travelled the world, won World Cups and Ashes series and shared it all with some of my closest friends.

"However, nothing lasts forever. I believe now is the right time for a new captain to lead the team forward and for young players to be given more opportunities to make their mark on the international game.

"After honest and open discussions with Mark, it became clear that he wants to build a new team and I fully support that. I would have loved to have carried on and whilst I am disappointed that I won't be doing so, I fully understand and respect what Mark is looking to do. This is a new era and he wants other players to come to the fore to build a strong team."

During the course of her career, Edwards scored more than 10,000 runs and led the England team a record 220 times. She also captained England to four Ashes series wins, as well as the World Cup and World T20 in 2009.