Former Australia spinner Nathan Hauritz announces retirement

Nathan Hauritz has announced his retirement from competitive cricket. The 34-year old former Australia off-spinner played 17 Tests, 58 ODIs and 3 T20I and has ended a career that began 15 years ago. As his BBL team Melbourne Renegades were eliminated on Monday night, the 34-year-old, who had been relegated to a backup role for all but one of their eight matches, decided it was time to focus on his post-playing career. For the past two seasons, he has not had a state contract – he was cut by Queensland at the end of 2013-14 – and struggled to get back to his best just for a two-month stint in the BBL.

“I was toying with it after I played with the [Sydney] Thunder and found out I wasn’t going back there (after last season) but I got an offer from the Renegades at the same time, because they want to play two spinners,” he said.

“It was really tough that I wasn’t playing and training at that level anymore to get straight into it. I felt the pressure a lot more than I usually had. This year, I felt that if things weren’t 100 per cent right – I started to feel I was done – I don’t want to go through more heartache or disappointment, (just) to try and finish on a high.”

Hauritz’s only match came against Perth on December 30, when Michael Klinger and Shaun Marsh achieved a record 10-wicket win chasing 171. While Klinger and Marsh were in imperious form and claimed 29 runs off his two overs, Hauritz felt that was evidence he was no longer capable of defending himself in those sorts of situations.

“I competed as hard as I could, but I just felt that me competing as hard as I could wasn’t good enough. They were that night, but I just didn’t have a different answer. I’m not in a competitive environment every week to (confidently) try something different. I was just so shattered after the game. I realised I hadn’t come down here to be that disappointed about a game of cricket anymore. I thought ‘I don’t need that anymore’. I just want to get away,” he said.

Hauritz was the player used most by Australia to plug the gaping spin void left by Shane Warne until Nathan Lyon’s emergence. His finest moment as an off-spinner came against Pakistan in the 2010 New Year’s Test when he claimed 5 for 53, his maiden first-class five-wicket haul, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He had made the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne prior to that special as well by hitting 75 off 152 balls, having come in ahead of Michael Clarke, Marcus North and Brad Haddin.