Gloucestershire wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Wells has been forced to retire from professional cricket at the age of 23 after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition.
Wells, who made his Gloucestershire debut in 2021, scored 40 off 94 balls in his only first-class innings against Glamorgan at Cardiff in September that year. His most recent performance was a match-winning 108 not out - his only professional hundred - against Durham in last season's Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
However, in an open letter on Gloucestershire's website, Wells revealed that he has since been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) - the same condition that forced former England batsman James Taylor to retire at the start of the 2016 season.
Ben Wells, the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper-batsman, has been forced to retire from professional cricket at the age of 23 after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition.
Wells, who made his Gloucestershire debut in 2021, scored 40 off 94 balls in his only first-class innings against Glamorgan at Cardiff in September of that year. His most recent performance was a match-winning 108 not out - his only professional hundred - against Durham in last season's Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
However, in an open letter on Gloucestershire's website, Wells revealed that he has since been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) - the same condition that forced former England batsman James Taylor to retire at the start of the 2016 season.
Wells honed his talents at Monkton Combe School near Bath, where he finished as the school's all-time leading run-scorer. He progressed through the ranks at Somerset Academy before graduating with a degree in physics from the University of Exeter and, after signing for Gloucestershire in July 2021, completed a Masters in Business Analytics the following year alongside his cricket commitments.
A regular for Bath CC, for whom he played more than 100 1st XI matches, he was already making a name for himself as a white-ball cricketer before his diagnosis, with an impressive 22-ball 43 not out helping Gloucestershire to an eight-wicket win over Hampshire in last year's Vitality Blast.