Record run scorer Tom Morton has called time on a glittering career with South Wilts, having won the ECB Southern Premier League championship five times with the Salisbury club.

The 37-years old plundered a new record 1,217 league runs for South Wilts last season, hitting five centuries along the way, writes Mike Vimpany.

In April he announced his intention to step away from Premier Division cricket and turn out on an occasional basis for South Wilts second team in Division 3.

Now after a handful games into the new season, he’s decided on a clean break and joined Sarisbury Athletic, a club based less than a mile from his, Lower Swanwick home.

Morton explained: "I contemplated a move over the winter, but when it came down to it, I couldn’t bring myself to leave South Wilts, where I enjoyed so many happy years, but the time feels right now.

"I've only played three times for the club this season. We lost the lot and I haven't scored too many runs, so I'm not sure they're missing much," he joked.

Morton finally decided to switch to his local Premier 1 club, Sarisbury Athletic before the second team’s defeat at Fareham & Crofton on June 10.

He added: "I live close to the Sarisbury ground, so that works nicely for the family and means I’ll play more regularly than originally intended."

Morton made his Sarisbury Athletic bow scoring 56 in last Saturday's narrow two-wicket win at rock bottom Hambledon – his new charges lying fourth in the log with four wins and two defeats from six outings.

A fitness fanatic, Morton has no triathlons planned for this summer, but he is training for the London to Paris PCA bike ride in October.

Morton leaves behind an indelible footprint at South Wilts. He scored over 11,500 runs, hit 29 centuries and made fifty or more on 51 occasions. Behind the stumps, he held 285 catches and snapped up 77 stumpings.