Dane Vilas to retire from County Cricket

Dane Vilas has today announced that he will retire from County Cricket at the end of the 2023 season.

The 38-year-old wicketkeeper batter has made 600 career appearances – 197 First-Class matches, 180 List A matches and 223 T20s – including 6 Tests and 1 T20I for South Africa.

Scoring over 19,000 professional runs with the bat, Vilas has struck 34 centuries (24 FC and 10 List A) across his storied career in his birthplace, South Africa, and latterly in English County Cricket.

Vilas has spent the last seven seasons of his career with Lancashire Cricket after making the move to Emirates Old Trafford on a Kolpak deal in 2017, before becoming an overseas player in 2021.

After just two seasons with the Club, in 2019, Vilas took over the captaincy – a position he would hold for four seasons with the Red Rose county.

Vilas led Lancashire back into Division One of the County Championship at the first time of asking, overseeing an unbeaten season in First-Class cricket – as he played every match as wicketkeeper whilst batting in the middle order.

During the same season, Vilas grabbed the headlines in a Championship match at Colwyn Bay, putting Glamorgan to the sword in scoring a magical 266, the highest score of his career.

He would later lead the Club to Vitality Blast Finals Day on three occasions in 2018, 2020 and 2022 and also two second place finishes in Division One of the County Championship during 2021 and 2022.

Vilas played six Test Matches for his country South Africa in 2015 and 2016 and he played his last international – a Test against England at Johannesburg – in January 2016.

Despite calling time on his County Cricket playing career, Vilas will play in the SA20 league which starts again in January.

Speaking about his retirement from county cricket at the end of this season, Dane Vilas said: “It has been an extremely difficult decision to call time on my County Cricket career and one that I have thought long and hard about. However, I feel that the end of this season is the right time for me and for my family.

“I have enjoyed a fantastic career, from making my First-Class debut for Gauteng in 2006, to the honour and pride of playing Test Match Cricket for South Africa, before moving to the UK in 2017 to take on a new challenge and making Emirates Old Trafford my home for the last seven seasons.

“It was one of the greatest honours of my career to be named captain of the Red Rose, to lead a brilliant group of players for four seasons and to represent our Members and supporters – who have all been amazing to me, and my family, throughout my time at the Club.

“I would like to thank everybody who has been on this journey with me not only at Lancashire but also for the last 17 years, from my family and friends to all of the players and coaches who I have shared a dressing room with.”

Everybody at Lancashire Cricket would like to congratulate Dane on a fantastic career. We thank him for his commitment and dedication during the last seven seasons with the Club – including four as captain – and we wish him all the best in his next chapter.