On Wednesday (January 9), the South African all-rounder Albie Morkel has announced his retirement from cricket. The 37-year-old South African cricketer played 109 international matches.
Albie is the elder brother of the former South African pacer Morne Morkel. Making his international cricket debut in February 2004, he played only Test in 2009, 58 ODIs and 50 T20Is where he scored a total of 1,412 runs (58 Test runs, 782 ODI runs and 572 T20I runs) and took a total of 77 wickets (one in Test, 50 in ODIs and 26 in T20Is). His final international cricket match was a T20I game against India at Cuttack on 5 October 2015.
That’s the end for me and what a journey it’s been! Plenty of memories good and bad, but I was blessed with a very long career. Thanks @Titans_Cricket @OfficialCSA, will enjoy the game now from the other side. pic.twitter.com/sXik0KYFbz
— Albie Morkel (@albiemorkel) January 9, 2019
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The left-handed batsman and right-arm pacer Albie spent around 20 years in the professional cricket. He played 77 first-class matches, 222 List A matches and 318 T20 matches where he scored 4,117 runs, 3,994 runs and 4,247 runs respectively and also picked up 203, 215 and 247 wickets receptively.
Albie also had some impressive IPL career as he played for Chennai Super Kings (2008-2013), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2014), Delhi Daredevils (2015) and Rising Pune Supergiants (2016). He played 91 IPL matches where he scored 974 runs (average 24.35) and picked up 85 wickets (average 27.75). Albie was a crucial member of Chennai Super Kings to win the 2010 and 2011 IPL tournaments.
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On his retirement, Albie said in a Titans press release, “Time has run out for me on the cricket field, and I would like to announce my retirement from the game. The last 20 years of my life took me on an incredible journey, with so many awesome memories that I will cherish forever.”
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On the other hand, Titans’ CEO Dr Jacques Faul revealed that they were planning to set a farewell game for Albie.
Faul said, “He deserves a send-off, and also a chance for the Titans fans to say a fond farewell. It wasn’t just for Titans that he was a massive player, because he also served the Protease with distinction.”
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Albie played his final professional game in the inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL 2018). Featuring for Durban Heat, his final professional game was against Tshwane Spartans at Centurion on December 12, 2018, where he played a brilliant match-winning knock of unbeaten 57 runs and won the Player of the Match award.
