Johan Botha announces retirement from all forms of the game with immediate effect

Veteran all-rounder Johan Botha has announced his retirement from all forms of the game with immediate effect. The decision to quit the sport has come midway through the 2018-19 edition of the Big Bash League. This season, Botha has been plying his trade for the Hobart Hurricanes. While he was new to the franchise, he was certainly not a newcomer in the Australian circuit.

He had switched nationalities a couple of years ago to ply his trade in the Australian cricketing circuit. He played for the Sydney Sixers in the previous edition of the tournament. Swapping nationalities meant he was playing in the BBL not as an overseas recruit but as a local Australian player, leaving room for his franchise to rope in another overseas player. The 36 year old cricketer has played 5 Test matches, 78 ODIs, and 40 T20Is for South Africa in his career.

When it comes to the T20 leagues, he has been a globe trotter and is a vastly experienced. He has played in the CPL, the IPL, and in the English domestic circuit as well. He has played 215 T20s and has scored 1966 runs. He has 163 wickets to his name but his strength had always been his economy rate – 6.51 in the shortest format of the game.

The news of his retirement was announced on the official website of the Hobart Hurricanes. It was a rather nostalgic game for Botha when he last turned up for the Hurricanes. The match was against the Sydney Sixers, his previous franchise in the tournament. He finished with figures of 0/12 in the match.

End of a 15-year long career

As Johan Botha ended his career that spanned for 15 years, from this debut for South Africa in the year 2004, the Hobart Hurricanes have wished him luck for the future. Botha cited fatigue and the wear and tear in his body as the reason behind his retirement decision.

“We wish the enthusiastic fitness fanatic, cyclist, golfer and runner all the very best with his future endeavours and thank him for his time and efforts at the Hobart Hurricanes since signing prior to the Abu Dhabi T20 in September 2018,” the official website of the Hurricanes quoted.

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