Published: Jun 18, 2020, 07:27 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 18, 2020, 09:19 AM (IST)
New Zealand wicketkeeper Rachel Priest has announced her retirement from international cricket days after her name was omitted from from the central contracts list.
Priest has penned contract with Tasmania and will represent them in Australia Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL).
The 35-year-old retires after having played 87 ODIs and 75 T20Is during a career spanning 13 years. She scored a combined 2567 runs including two centuries and 11 fifties.
As a wicketkeeper, she effected 165 dismissals.
Priest is now looking forward to playing for Tasmania.
“Having been involved in the White Ferns environment for 13 years, most of it enjoyable, it is with much consideration that I have decided to retire from international cricket,” Priest said. “I am really looking forward to the next chapter of my cricketing journey with Cricket Tasmania and the Tigers program and feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity.”
“I’m in a position where I’ve played a fair amount of cricket at the age that I’m at around the world, so I’m certainly hoping to add some of that experience and bring a bit of the mongrel that [coach Salliann Briggs] spoke to me about. Experience is massive but it’s also about trying to bring a positive belief into the team, where the girls can be whoever they want to be and back themselves when they perform,” she added.
Priest made a comeback in late 2019 after a gap of over two years and was part of the New Zealand squad for the IC Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year in Australia.
