Published: Feb 14, 2017, 02:16 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 14, 2017, 02:39 PM (IST)
Adam Voges retires from international cricket, as he gears up to lead Australian Prime Minister’s XI against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Voges has said the warm-up match against the visiting side will be his last and he is looking forward to the game. Voges had made his Test debut during Australia’s tour of West Indies in mid-2015 and slammed a double-century in his first match. In fact, he had become the oldest cricketer, at 35, to score a century on debut, amassing 130 against West Indies in Dominica. He retires with the second best batting average in Test cricket of 61.87, after at least 20 matches. ALSO READ – Adam Voges: Bradmanesque or insanely lucky?
“This will be it for me,” Voges said. “I’m certainly looking forward to getting out there and playing this game. I’ve had an amazing couple of years with Australia with the Test team and I’ve loved every minute of it. I see this as a last opportunity to play against an international team and I’m certainly looking forward to that,” Voges was quoted saying by Sydney Morning Herald. Voges played exactly 20 Tests, scoring 1,485 runs with 5 centuries and 4 fifties in a career that was studded with exhilarating highs and some embarrassing lows during tours to England and Sri Lanka.
Voges’ debut series in West Indies brought him instant fame, but he struggled throughout the tour of England during the Ashes 2015. He scored half-centuries at Nottingham and at The Oval, and returned home to have a successful series against New Zealand. ALSO READ – Adam Voges displays batting prowess and how!
Voges began with 83 not out at Brisbane, and scored 119 at Perth in the second Test. However, at Hobart, in the third Test, he hammered 269 not out to boost his batting average, which was consolidated further with an innings of 239 at Wellington.
However, a poor tour to Sri Lanka was followed by failures in first two Tests against South Africa at home. Voges suffered concussion in Western Australia’s match against Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield, and missed out on a chance to press on for his selection for the final Test. Peter Handscomb’s success at No. 5 established him in the Australian side meanwhile.
Voges also played 31 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 7 T20Is. His career, in fact, can be divided into two parts: the first stint saw Voges featuring in limited-overs cricket while the second saw him excelling in Test cricket. Voges scored 870 runs in 31 ODIs at 45.78 with one century, while he garnered 139 runs in 7 T20Is. He scored a 33-ball 51 in his last T20I for Australia.
