JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini has formally retired from international cricket, the 33-year-old said in a statement yesterday.
The paceman, who played the last of his 101 tests in December 2009 but has been out of favour with the national selectors ever since, will make one final appearance in a Twenty20 international against India in Durban on Jan. 9.
“It has been a wonderful journey for me to represent my country,” Ntini said in a statement. “I have so many great memories, which I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”
Ntini made his South Africa debut in a one-day international in 1998 and retires having taken 390 test wickets, with best figures of 7-37, and 266 wickets in 173 ODIs.
Nicknamed the ‘Mdingi Express” after the village of his birth in the Eastern Cape, Ntini will continue to play domestic cricket.
“My career is by no means over; it just means that internationally my time has come to hang up my boots. Domestic cricket is thriving at the moment, and I want to be a part of the set up, as a player, for as long as possible,” he said.
In 2003 Ntini became the first South African to take 10 wickets in a test match at Lord’s, an achievement fondly remembered by Ali Bacher, the former head of the South African cricket board who has been part of Ntini’s cricket career almost from the beginning.
“After that match he took the time out to phone people in South Africa that had helped him during his career, to thank them for their support during his career,” Bacher told Reuters.
“It is testament to Makhaya that, at the pinnacle of his career, he was thinking of other people.”
Bacher said that the fact that Ntini had managed to overcome an impoverished background spoke volumes about the man.
“Makhaya comes from a very poor, rural background and to come out of that environment, where he grew up without basic facilities like hot water, and to become an international cricketer, is an extraordinary achievement.
“Makhaya was blessed with natural ability but he also had tremendous dedication, passion, commitment and a hunger for the game.
“The three big sports in South Africa are rugby, cricket and soccer and over the last two decades in rugby and cricket Makhaya is the only black African to regularly play in the national side which is a hugely significant achievement.”