Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson will no longer be featuring in the Big Bash League as he has decided to hang up his boots from his BBL career. The fast bowler will not be a part of the Perth Scorchers in the 2018-19 season as he will be focussing more on the 10-over tournament to be played in the UAE during the same period.

As quoted in the West Australian newspaper, Johnson’s manager, Sam Halvorsen said, “The intensity and length of the BBL is just too much for someone who will be 37 at the start of the summer. Mitch has put his name up for the Emirates tournament in Dubai, but that is half the length of the BBL.”

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On Wednesday, Cricket Australia (CA) also announced an expanded season for the next edition of the BBL, starting in December. The final will be played in February. Overall 59 matches will be played in the tournament, with each side playing each other twice (home and away) during the regular season. Each team will play 14 matches before the final stage of the tournament begins.

In the upcoming season of BBL, the Metricon Stadium in Gold Coast will be making its debut in the league, just a month after the venue plays host to its first international T20 between Australia and South Africa.

Johnson had been on a year-by-year contract with the Scorchers. Shane Watson, Chris Lynn, James Faulkner and Ben Laughlin have already been selected in this week’s “mini-draft” in Dubai for the T10 tournament and the fast bowler is among the pool of players for the main draft on September 2.