Shane Watson, the former Australia player, has now called it quit from the Big Bash League (BBL). The 37-year old had retired from the International cricket in 2016 and now the captain of Sydney Thunder has announced his decision of not paying in the fifth edition of BBL to give more time to his family. He was a part of the squad for the last four years where he led the team in the past three occasions. He is currently playing for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
His exclusion will certainly affect the team’s performance as he is one of the best all-rounders in the World Cricket.
“Shane Watson was one of the most exciting short-form players ever to grace a cricket field,” said Kevin Roberts, the chief executive of Cricket Australia on Friday (April 26). “Talented, skillful and powerful, Shane was a devastating batsman at his best. It was only a few months ago he scored a century from just 62 balls for the Thunder against the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba.”
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“In a career which spanned almost two decades Shane made a major contribution to Australian cricket firstly at international level and then in domestic cricket as a significant contributor to the Big Bash. His greatest quality was persistence, overcoming a number of sometimes serious injuries and curtailing his pace. He became a probing swing and seam bowler,” he added.
“Despite these injuries Shane played a remarkable amount of cricket, representing Australia in 307 matches across all formats and playing more than 700 matches of international and domestic cricket in total, scoring more than 25,000 runs and claiming over 600 wickets. He is also the only Sydney Thunder batsman to score more than a 1000 runs. He is Australia’s most successful Test and One-Day batting all-rounder after Steve Waugh. No other Australians combined as many runs and wickets in either format,” he further added.
Shane Watson was one of the key players of Sydney Thunder who finished his career with 1058 runs and 20 wickets in 42 games, their all-time highest run-getter. However, he will continue to play in other T20 games all over the world.
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Meanwhile, Shane Watson also thanked his teammates for his stint with the Sydney Thunder franchise.
“I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who has been involved with the Sydney Thunder over the last four seasons,” Watson said. “I have so many amazing memories that I will savour forever with the one standout being our win in 2016. Want to especially thank Nick Cummins, Paddy Upton, Lee Germon and Shane Bond who made my experience with the club so enjoyable.”
“Finally, to my teammates, I have played with so many great people and cricketers at the club and I sincerely wish everyone the absolute best for the upcoming seasons,” he added.
