Luke Wright has retired from first class cricket with Sussex and signed a limited-overs only contract extension in a bid to prolong his career.

Sussex made the announcement in the wake of their opening Championship defeat by Leicestershire at Hove, for which all-rounder Wright was not selected.

The decision by long-serving Wright, 34 last month, comes after the former England one-day and T20 international recently revealed to The Argus that he rejected offers from the Pakistan Super League in order to work on his technique against the red ball during an extended pre-season in South Africa with captain Ben Brown.

Wright said: “I worked hard on my red-ball cricket over the winter, but once it became clear that I was going to have a lesser role in the four-day team, it made sense for me to commit my long-term future to the white-ball game only.

"I'm hoping to carry on playing for the next five to six years and therefore I'm delighted to be committing my future to Sussex with this contract.

"I'm hugely proud of my first-class record – it’s something that has often surprised people who think of me as having been a white-ball specialist - and I was lucky to join Sussex under Peter Moores and Chris Adams ahead of a period of unprecedented success for the county.

“I’ll miss first-class cricket greatly and would always advise any youngsters making their way in the game that four-day runs are always the most rewarding.

“Dizzy (coach Jason Gillespie) and Browny have my full support going forward and I believe in what they’re trying to achieve with this exciting young team.

“I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the Royal London One-Day Cup next week and to building on the fantastic T20 cricket we played last year when the Vitality Blast campaign gets underway in July.

"I’d like to say a massive thank you to all the staff, players and coaches for all the support I’ve had during my 16 years of first-class cricket and for the continued support I know I will receive as I enter the next chapter of my career.”

Gillespie said: “I’m delighted that we’ll be benefitting from Luke’s skills and leadership in the shorter forms of the games for the years to come. He’s in great shape and I’m sure he’ll be playing for a long time yet.

“I sat down with Wrighty at the end of last season and he was keen to work over the winter to try and cement his role in the four-day side. He missed out on selection for the first game with a couple of the other lads given an opportunity and he has been very selfless in making way for other players to come through.

“Luke’s been brilliant for Sussex in first-class cricket for many years and his record reflects what he has achieved in that form of the game.”