T20 Blast: Luke Wright becomes the first player to score 5000 runs in the tournament

English all-rounder Luke Wright became the first player to reach the 5000 runs mark in English T20 Blast as the Sussex star scored 46 in a South Group fixture against Glamorgan at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

The former England international is struggling for consistency this season with just 158 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 129.50 so far. His 46-run knock against Glamorgan was his highest score of this season, however,  Sussex suffered a heavy defeat by four wickets in the game, their seventh in ten matches this season. They currently sit at eighth position in the league table with just six points.

Wright joined the Sharks in 2004 and was later named captain in the 2015-16 season. Sussex made it to the knockouts in five of his seven years in his captaincy, including two finals. He stepped down as the skipper before the start of this season and was replaced by veteran all-rounder Ravi Bopara.

Wright still has two years of contract left with Sussex but the player is already looking to explore a career in coaching. He has already been named as a fourth coach for New Zealand for their upcoming Ireland tour next month.

The 37-year-old English batter now has scored 5026 runs in 180 matches at an average of 32.84 and a strike rate of 148.47 in the tournament’s history. Overall, he has scored 8526 runs in 344 domestic T20 matches with the help of seven centuries and 46 fifties.

He also featured for England in T20I and ODI teams but never made it to the red-ball format. Wright was also part of Paul Collingwood’s T20 World Cup-winning England squad in 2010. He last played for the Three Lions back in March 2014, having scored 759 runs in 51 T20I matches at an average of 18.97 and a strike rate of 137.00 and also took 18 wickets.