Retirement and Suspension In The Air

South African pacer Dale Steyn has announced his retirement from Test cricket. He played 93 Tests and picked up 439 wickets from 2004 to 2019.

JUST IN: After 93 Tests and 439 Test wickets, Dale Steyn has announced his retirement from Test cricket. pic.twitter.com/3l1XmWKvvn

— ICC (@ICC) August 5, 2019

Dale took to his Instagram to tell his fans and supporters about his decision, writing, “What a ride. Just a quick thank you to everyone for the kind messages over the last two days. Simply blown away by all the people who have messaged/congratulated me. Thank you 🙏🏼 what does one say when they retire? I don’t really know how to sum up almost 15 years of red ball throwing, to be honest it’s actually impossible to even try. What I can say is that I’ve loved every second of it, from the best to the worst days, it’s been awesome! Maybe I’ll try jot it down in a book one day, so I guess you’ll have to wait till then. Here’s to a few more years of white ball though, apparently that 20/20 stuff is pretty fun… ✌🏼”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B03f366gKii/

Steyn made his Test debut against England at Port Elizabeth in December 2004 and played his last Test at the same venue against Sri Lanka on February 2019.

Dale Steyn was part of South Africa’s 2019 World Cup squad but returned home without playing a single match following a second shoulder injury. During the 2019 Indian Premier League, Steyn had played two matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore and picked four wickets.

The 36 year-old bowler, is South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket and is eight in the list of highest wicket-takers overall in the longest format.

Sportsmen sending love and wishes to Steyn:

A true champion of the game.
Happy retirement to the pace machine @DaleSteyn62 🙏🏼💯

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) August 5, 2019

https://www.instagram.com/p/B02yRQonU_g/

Too many memories to mention! We started together many years back and I had the privilege and front row seats of watching @DaleSteyn62 turn into the best bowler of his time. You are the greatest, an even better… https://t.co/Ujgv54bKTI

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) August 5, 2019

The greatest of his generation. Stats don’t lie and @DaleSteyn62 test stats is the best . I know how much test cricket means to you bud and how badly you still wanted to achieve more . Hopefully we will still see a lot of this action. #🐐 pic.twitter.com/qMglFgfZ9U

— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) August 5, 2019

#CSAnews #BreakingNews @DaleSteyn62 has brought down the curtain on one of the great fast bowling Test careers of the modern era when he announced his retirement from red-ball cricket with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/L3HmWXKRwV

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) August 5, 2019

In other news, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has suspended head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The former fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s Interim coach, ahead of their home Test series against New Zealand, starting from 14 August.

Hathurusingha, appointed in December 2017, has been criticised for the team’s recent poor performances, including this year’s Cricket World Cup in which Sri Lankan Team was knocked out in the group stage.

Mr. Chandika Hathurusingha has informed SLC that he has not applied for the ‘Head Coach’ position of the West Indies Cricket Board.
Read More: https://t.co/b9wXK9Z5ZD pic.twitter.com/tq3CGjbtzL

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) December 1, 2018

For now, if Hathurusingha refuses to leave, SLC will take legal action against him or offer him a different job at the board.