'The love is still there. I have always called cricket my mistress'

Jack Russell spent the first few days after he retired from professional cricket painting a large self-portrait. It was something he had always wanted to do but never had the time for. Playing nearly 950 matches for Gloucestershire and England had been all consuming. In retirement, however, he found himself with nothing but time. And he also wanted to capture himself at that moment of his life, paint himself at the start of what Russell calls his new adventure. "It was sort of like, where am I right now?" he says. "Well, this is where I am. This is me now."

You retired midway through the 2004 season after 23 years in the professional game. Was that earlier than you had planned?

Yes, I had just signed a two year contract. I had back trouble which we thought we had sorted so I started the season as normal. We played a couple of games and my back went again. I wasn't even playing. It happened in the changing room at Edgbaston. I bent down to pick my trainer up and my back went. I spent about eight weeks trying to get fit again. I remember the meeting. I said to Mark Alleyne and the physio, 'This ain't happening'. I was disappointed but I had got my head round it in those two months.

What do you remember of leaving the County Ground in Bristol on your last day?

Normally, at the end of a day's play, you're thinking about what you're doing for tomorrow, what's my recovery and preparation for the next day or match? There was always this structure in your mind of what to think about. That suddenly disappears. That's the daunting bit. You have to think in a different way. Even though I had known it, it wasn't until I technically retired, going through the Grace Gates at Bristol, that that moment hits you. I'll never forget that day. I'll never forget it.

How did you feel on the first day of the rest of your life?

It was a weird day. I woke up at the same time but thinking I don't actually have to do anything if I don't want to. That was a nice freedom but at the same time I knew that at some stage I'd have to pull my finger out. It was very odd.

But you finally had the time to do that self portrait?

I always wanted to do that portrait but I never got round to it. That was the very first painting I painted when I retired. It was weird painting yourself because you've got to use a mirror. It's not quite how people see you. You put your own spin on it. My daughter said to me I look like I've got madness in my eyes. I was really intense but I think it was excitement about the future. That filled the gap for the first couple of days.

In that first week, were there times when you thought you might have got the decision wrong?

Not really because with a back injury, it affects everything. Even getting out of bed, sitting down properly. I pushed it to the limit. I can hold my hand up and I know I could not go any further. Mentally, I'd love to be playing now but I don't miss playing, apart from when the Aussies are in town when I get a bit itchy. That doesn't stop me dreaming quite often that I am still playing, though.

What are you doing in the dreams?

I'm 50-odd and I am still at Gloucester. I get into game situations, talking to some of the players. I'm in Test matches, the nerves come up. I just can't get rid of them. They are so real, I wake up and think I was actually playing. Deep down in my subconscious, I must still want to be playing but I deal with it. The painting has kept me sane. My colleagues laugh at me when I say that because they don't ever think I have been sane. But I actually think it has been my God-send. Because if I didn't have that, I probably would struggle with life.

So having the gallery to focus on as soon as you retired was important?

Yes, but even though I had the gallery, it was still daunting. It was the unknown. I was in the big wide world and I had to fend for myself now. I think players find that really difficult and that's why we have such a suicide rate in cricket. Players, after they finish, have nothing to fill their minds. The year is so structured. You have winter nets, pre-season, the games, you need to be here at this time. It's like being in the army. Things are all arranged for you. It's like a safety net.

How did your wife cope having you at home all the time?

The first few days were quite an adjustment. I spent more time with the kids and, to quite a lot of annoyance, more time with my wife. She wasn't used to me being under her feet all the time. When I first met her, I went away for six months to New Zealand. On our wedding night, I went to nets. It was a Monday, there was practice in the winter, and I couldn't miss that. So she knew what she was putting up with. But she wasn't used to me being there all the time. I'm sure she thought I was a pain but we worked it out in the end.

You were known as someone who had their set ways about your diet. Soaking wheetabix in milk for a certain time, drinking gallons of tea. Did you keep that up?

I've only recently started eating wheetabix again soaked in milk for minimum 15 minutes. I'd had it for so many years I had to stop when I finished. Having said that, I'd always had treats like chocolate biscuits and I carried on eating baked beans and drinking tea, so not a lot changed really. But I didn't have to think about what I was eating because I always geared my diet to what I had to do the next day on the field. After retirement, I let my hair down.

Did you keep up with any of the fitness work you did as a player?

I had done so much gym work but I did it to play well. That was my motivation. When I finished, I said to myself I'd have a year off. But I actually had about 16 years off. It's only in the last year or two that I have started going walking which has made me feel a lot better. One of the main reasons is that I want to go to the lakes and the mountains and do some painting up there. So I need to get fit for that. I've put about a stone on.

Do you still watch the game?

Yes. I don't think I've ever been bitter about the game. The love is still there. I have always called cricket my mistress. She is always there and I visit her occasionally. If the Ashes are on, I am visiting her all the time. I didn't stop watching. I was still painting cricket as soon as I stopped playing. I don't think I have ever at any point said I can't be bothered to watch. If the Ashes are on, I just have to watch. My life, in some ways, is still geared around cricket because I'll stop painting or I'll gear my painting schedule around what's going on.

Did you struggle being out of the limelight once you stopped playing?

I don't remember it being a problem. While there might have been a period where I wasn't in the limelight as much, I did a little bit of commentary and the promotional work for exhibitions and the gallery, my face was still in the limelight a little bit. I count myself lucky. Some players stop and then go into the wilderness. I don't think I have ever been totally in the wilderness. There was definitely not a full stop.

Also read: The story of Greg Blewett and how he got himself over his disgruntled retirement