Ronnie Irani

In 2015, Irani took up the position of Cricket Committee Chairman at Essex and expressed his desire for the club to improve its performances. Irani was quoted as saying that, “We are still talented and it is great to see young players coming through like Nick Browne, Tom Westley and Jamie Porter. We have to make sure we keep doing that, while getting Essex back to the level that we were in years gone by, knocking on doors and trying to win trophies.”

In 2009 Irani's autobiography "No Boundaries" was published. He was also part of a celebrity 'consortium' (along with Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans) who clubbed together to pay for Paul Gascoigne to receive treatment for alcoholism in the US.

He announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the end of the 2007 season.

In June 2007, he rejected a new contract with Essex and announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the end of the 2007 season. He retired with immediate effect later that month.

After his retirement, he took on a position at talkSPORT in 2007, where he co-hosted, until 2013, The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast with former Scottish international footballer Alan Brazil. On this show, he picked up the nickname Chicken from the dish Chicken Biriyani rhyming with his surname. Following Irani's appointment, the show's audience increased, reaching 1.2 million listeners by May 2008. During his time at talkSPORT, Irani also appeared as a guest on the BBC quiz show A Question of Sport.

Irani was a genuine all-rounder until a knee injury in 2003 forced him to stop bowling and play as a specialist batsman. The recurring nature of this injury led to Irani being forced to retire from first-class cricket in June 2007. At Essex, Irani helped bring through promising players such as Alastair Cook (England Captain) and Ravinder Bopara (England Player) as well as winning two major One-Day Titles. Professionally he scored over 20,000 runs and took more than 650 wickets during his career.

Irani was awarded Fans' player of the series in Natwest Series 2002 featuring India and Sri Lanka for his allround performance. He scored 169 runs and took 8 wickets in the tri-series.

He started his career playing for Lancashire in 1990, before he moved to Essex in 1994. At Essex, he gained cult status, before he became captain in 2000, and is generally accepted to have done a decent job in charge, helping to bring through promising players such as Alastair Cook, Will Jefferson and Ravi Bopara. After Graham Gooch stepped down as the club's head coach prior to the start of the 2005 season, Irani assumed some of these responsibilities in addition to his role as county captain.

Ronald Charles "Ronnie" Irani (born 26 October 1971) is a former England cricketer who played Tests and ODIs for England. He played only three Tests for England, with decidedly mixed success, but found a niche in One Day Internationals, where he gained much praise for his performances.

Irani's father Jimmy Irani arrived in Bolton from Bombay in 1961 to play a summer's club cricket. During that summer he met 16-year-old Lancastrian Anne Main. The two married and had a son, Ronnie. Jimmy Irani was an enthusiastic, successful and prolific club cricketer with Daisy Hill in the Bolton Association who often put up overseas players, such as Farokh Engineer and Javed Miandad, during Ronnie's childhood.