 The signing of Smith, along with the youth policy adopted by Somerset's new first-team coach, Mark Garaway, meant that Burns had limited opportunities in 2005; he played nine first-class and eight List A matches during the season, and did not appear for the first team after July.He scored an early-season century, hitting eleven boundaries on his way to 107 runs against Warwickshire in the totesport League, but only scored 63 runs across his remaining seven one-day matches.As a result of his lack of first-team action, he opted to retire from first-class cricket at the end of the 2005 season.