David Hussey confirms his retirement from cricket after BBL exit

What’s the story?

Australian batsman and Melbourne Star’s captain David Hussey confirmed his retirement from all forms of the sport after his side’s exit from the Big Bash League yesterday at the hands of the Perth Scorchers who won the match by 7 wickets to book their place in the final of the tournament. They will face the winner of the match between the Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat on Sunday.

Hussey confirmed his retirement via a tweet.

His teammate Kevin Pietersen expressed his gratitude towards his captain through an Instagram post.

In case you didn’t know...

Hussey, who is the younger brother of former Australian cricketer Mike Hussey made his debut for the Australian cricket team in 2008 at the age of 30. He constantly featured in the ODI and T20I sides for the Kangaroos between 2008 and 2012. He has captained the Melbourne Stars since 2011 and led them to the finals last year where they lost out to the Sydney Thunder franchise by three wickets.

He has played 69 ODIs for Australia and has amassed 1769 runs at an average of 32.65 with 14 half-centuries and a solitary century against his name. He has also featured in 39 T20 Internationals where he has bagged 756 runs at an average of 22.90.

He has played for three different sides in the Indian Premier League. His first stint was with the Kolkata Knight Riders from 2008-10, after which he was bagged by the Kings XI Punjab from 2011-13. His final stint came with the Chennai Super Kings in 2014.

The heart of the matter

Hussey’s decision to retire came after a poor outing with the Stars this season. In 9 matches, he managed to score only 137 runs at an average of 17.12 and a strike-rate of 137 without any half-centuries to his name. His highest score of 29 came against Brisbane Heat on 17th January.

Sportskeeda’s take

Although he constantly performed well in the domestic circuit in England and Australia for the better half of his career, Hussey did not get to play a lot of international cricket, unlike his elder brother. Despite this, he will go down as one of the greats of limited over cricket for Australia. He will also be missed in the Indian Premier League this year, a tournament in which he has constantly featured ever since its inception in 2008.

Yes, the end.I simply can't do the things I want to do anymore & me playing is stopping younger players from achieving! Had a blast. #thanks https://t.co/F41wYwiTue

— David Hussey (@DavidHussey29) January 25, 2017