One of the hard things as a fan is to watch one of your favorite cricketers hang up their boots for good and bid farewell to the game. We all shed a tear when Sachin Tendulkar retired although we knew it was time.
However, there have been some players who still had a few good years left in them. Instead, they decided to call it quits on their great career. Some of these decisions were due to career-threatening injuries while some were due to natural progression.
In this segment, we will take a look at six cricketers who retired from the sport a lot earlier than expected.
#6 Michael Clarke
If you were to create of list of greatest cricketers of all-time, Michael Clarke would definitely feature in that list. Clarke who made his international debut against England in 2003 went on to become one of Australia’s most prolific batsman across both formats accumulating multiple records along the way.
Clarke proved handy with bat and ball. He took over the reigns of his national side after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement from international cricket. Under his captaincy, Australia whitewashed England during the 2013-2014 Ashes series down under and also regained the number one Test ranking after a span of 4 years. He also led Australia to a World Cup win 2015.
He scored of total of 16624 international runs in 360 international matches. He was at the peak of his career when he decided to retire from all forms of cricket in 2015. He was only 34 years old at the time of his retirement.
#5 Craig Kieswetter
Craig Kieswetter was on the right track to becoming one of England’s regular wicket-keeper batsman. He had a promising start to his international career. He played for England in 2010 World T20 tournament and won the man of the match award in the final helping his team win the tournament.
It was clear that he was in for a bright future. However, after the World T20, his form hit a slump and he was dropped from the side. He returned back to playing county cricket.
On 12 July 2014, Kieswetter suffered a broken nose and fractured cheek bone while trying to play a bouncer from David Wiley. The ball went through the grille and the visor on his helmet and struck him on the face.
Kieswetter had to undergo facial surgery, and suffered from double vision for a while. He tried to return to cricket, but his efforts were hampered due to his poor vision. Hence, at the young age of 27, he decided to call it quits on his career. Since his retirement, he has tried his hand at becoming a professional golf player.
#4 James Taylor
James Taylor is one more player on this list whose career came to a sad end. He made his international debut for England in 2011. Since his debut, he was in and out of the English squad.
The highest point in his career came when he was selected to play in the 2015 World Cup. He also scored an unbeaten 98 in a losing cause in their tournament opener. He was soon a mainstay in the English side and things were looking good for him. One can easily say that he was at the highest point of his career.
All that came crashing down after he suffered a serious health scare in a training session. The English batsman was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and he was forced to retire at the ripe young age of 26.
#3 Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher emerged as one of the greatest wicket-keepers of all-time in an illustrious career spanning 15 years. During those years, he was South Africa’s best wicket-keeper and was their mainstay. He holds the record for most number of dismissals as a wicket-keeper in all formats of cricket.
As middle order batsman, he has helped South Africa out of many dire situations. His performances behind the stumps and with the bat helped him win the South African Player of the Year award in 1998, 2000, 2006 and he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2009.
Unfortunately, he was struck in the eye by a flying bail during South Africa’s tour of England in 2012. Due to severity of the injury, Boucher—who had planned to retire at the end of the tour—retired from international cricket on 10th July, 2012.
#2 Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann made his test debut against India in 2008. Immediately he made an impact dismissing both Gautam Gamnhir and Rahul Dravid in his very first over in Test cricket. Following the poor form of Monty Panesar, the off-spinner became a regular member of England’s Test side.
Swann was England’s primary wicket-taker especially in the longer format of the game. He was also quite handy with the bat in the lower order and also has a highest score of 85.
He is still regarded as one of the greatest English spinners of all-time. Sadly, Swann announced his retirement from international cricket when England were 3-0 down in the Ashes 2013-14 series.
Swann cited “an injury issue” as the reason for his early retirement. He was only 34 at the time and could have easily played a few more years for his country before hanging up his boots.
#1 Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith made his test debut against Australia in 2002. He slammed a double century in just his third Test match. His international career beginning was nothing short of spectacular. From the moment of his debut, he was immediately regarded as the future of South African cricket.
After the 2003 World Cup, Graeme Smith was selected as the captain of the Test team following Shaun Pollock’s resignation. He remains the youngest ever South African captain (22 years and 82 days old).
Over the years, Smith established himself as his country’s most successful captain. He holds the record for highest number of wins (53) by a South African skipper. The southpaw was also extremely consistent with the bat.
Despite all these impeccable records, Smith decided to call it quits at just 33 years. One can speculate that he easily had a few more years left in him at the helm of the world’s finest Test side.
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