SYDNEY - Former Australian batsman Michael Bevan, once regarded as the best one-day player in the world, announced his retirement from first-class cricket yesterday.
Bevan, 36, said he hoped to remain in the sport, but was retiring as a player because of niggling injuries that had sidelined him
for most of the past two seasons.
Bevan said: "It got to the stage where injuries and pain were holding back my motivation.
"I was finding it hard to get up for matches and that was probably a pretty clear indication that it was time to move on.
"But I've pretty much achieved what I wanted to achieve and I've been glad I've had the opportunity to play cricket for a living."
Bevan was part of the Australian sides that won the 1999 and 2003 World Cups and won many games for his country, with his calm approach to seemingly impossible run-chases.
His most famous innings was against the West Indies in Sydney on New Year's Day 1996, when he hit the last ball of the match to the boundary to seal Australia's win after they had slumped to 74 for seven, chasing 173.
Bevan, who was also a handy left-arm spinner, made his first-class debut for South Australia in 1989-90 and also played for New South Wales and Tasmania. In England he played for Kent, Leicestershire, Sussex and Yorkshire.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said: "Bevan was an integral part of Australia's one-day plans for a decade [and a] ... part of an incredibly successful generation of cricketing talent."
- REUTERS
