Australian Cricketer Brad Haddin retires from international cricket

Sydney, Sep 9 - Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin announced his retirement from international cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here on Wednesday thus becoming the fourth member of Australia's vanquished Ashes squad to end his career in the wake of the 2-3 series defeat against England.

Haddin follows captain Michael Clarke, opening batsman Chris Rogers and all-rounder Shane Watson -- all of whom retired following the Ashes loss in England. Watson, however, is still available for limited-overs cricket.

The 37-year-old, who stopped playing One-Day Internationals (ODI) in March, lost his place in the Test squad to glovesman Peter Nevill during the Ashes in July. He will also stop playing first class cricket for New South Wales but will continue in the Twenty20 Big Bash League for the Sydney Sixers.

"I came to the realisation after Lord's Test. I've had a privileged run, but I lost the hunger on the Ashes tour. It was an easy decision to retire," Haddin was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia (CA).

Haddin played 66 Tests, all of them coming after he turned 30 following the retirement of Adam Gilchrist. Only Ian Healy, Gilchrist and Rod Marsh have played more for Australia as wicketkeepers.

With 270 dismissals as a wicketkeeper, Haddin sits behind only Gilchrist (416), Ian Healy (395) and Rod Marsh (355) while his 3,266 runs at 32.98 places him fourth on the list after the same trio. He played 126 ODIs, scoring 3,122 runs at an average of over 31.

(IANS)