Mitch Johnson's retirement, Imran Khan's "massive" cricketing changes, and more - Cricket News of today, 19th August 2018

#1 Mitchell Johnson announces retirement from cricket

No more of these fireballs

Australian maverick pacer, Mitchell Johnson has officially announced his retirement from the sport. He said that he hoped he would feature in various T20 leagues around the world but his "body is starting to shut down".

"It's over. I've bowled my final ball. Taken my final wicket. Today I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket," Johnson wrote for the Perth Now website.

"I had hoped to continue playing in various Twenty20 competitions around the world until perhaps the middle of next year. But the fact is my body is starting to shut down."

He went on to confirm that he won't be featuring for Perth Scorchers in the BBL as well, despite coach Adam Voges wanting him to feature for another season.

"I'm ready to break clear of playing cricket and move on to the next period of my life. He has recently been through retiring himself and I think he understood that when you're done, you're done. If I can't play at 100 percent then I can't give my best to the team. And for me, it's always been about the team.

"My competitive urge hasn't left me and hopefully that's something I can use to channel into a coaching or mentoring role in the future. I'm a believer in sticking to your strengths and cricket is my strength," the left-armer added.

"I saw more highs and lows than most cricketers and I'm proud that I was able to fight back from adversity in the latter part of my career and produce consistent performances. I made mistakes and I learned from them," he concluded. The world of cricket will definitely miss his lusty deliveries that used to breathe fire irrespective of what surface he was playing on.