Brett Lee |
-
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee retired from international cricket on Friday,
just days after he was forced to return home from England after sustaining
another injury and a few months before he had pencilled in a possible exit from
the game.
The 35-year-old, who first announced
his decision on his Twitter page, sustained a right calf strain in the fourth
one-day match of Australia's limited overs tour of England and was forced to
return home for further examination and treatment.
"The last
two or three nights I have thought about it a lot and I woke up this morning
and thought this was the right day to do it," Lee told a media conference
at Sydney Cricket Ground.
"It's
almost like there has been a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I have been a
bit anxious the last two days. It has been a hard few days."
Lee had been expected to be available
for the World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka later this year, and he said he
had held discussions with the selectors about retiring from after that, but the
most recent injury had changed those plans.
"It
(retirement) was going to be post-World Cup but I woke up this morning and felt
... that the time was right," he added.
"To play
international cricket you need to be mentally and physically 100 percent and I
didn't think it would be fair to the team or myself if it wasn't in that space.
"Looking
ahead at the next two months I just didn't have that desire any more. It's not
a lack of commitment but you just get to that point in your life when enough's
enough and the great run is at an end."
Lee last played a Test match in 2008,
but continued to play international limited-overs matches for Australia and in
India's lucrative Twenty20 competition. He retired from Tests in 2010.
He told Australia's Channel Nine
television he would continue to play Twenty20 cricket in Australia and India.
In his prime Lee was one of the
fastest and most aggressive bowlers in the world but has suffered from a long
list of injuries that blighted his career, including stress fractures, ankle
injuries, side strains and more recently a broken foot.
He took 310 Test wickets at 30.81 and
380 one-day international wickets at 23.36, one short of Glenn McGrath's
Australian record.
"The
statistics only tell part of the story," chairman of selectors John
Inverarity said in a media statement.
"Brett has
been an absolute ornament to the game; a fine player, a fierce and brave
competitor, a generous opponent and one who always upheld the highest standards
of sportsmanship.
"He has
been a cricketer in every sense of the word."
No comments:
Post a Comment