(Reuters) – Australian fast bowler Brett Lee retired from international cricket yesterday, just days after he was forced to return home from England after sustaining another injury.
The 35-year-old sustained a right calf strain in the fourth one day match of Australia’s limited overs tour of England and was forced to return home for further examination and treatment.
“It’s official, I have retired from international cricket,” Lee wrote on his Twitter page ahead of a media conference in Sydney.
“Thanks for all your love and support. It’s been an amazing 13 years,” he added on the social networking website.
Cricket Australia had said earlier this week they expected Lee to be available for consideration for the World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka later this year.
Lee last played a test match in 2008, but continued to play international limited overs matches for Australia and in India’s lucrative Twenty20 competition. He retired from tests in 2010.
In his prime Lee was one of the fastest and most aggressive bowlers in the world but has suffered from a long list of injuries that blighted his career, including stress fractures, ankle injuries, side strains and more recently a broken foot.
He took 310 test wickets at 30.81 and 380 one-day international wickets at 23.36, one short of Glenn McGrath’s Australian record.
