Veteran Australia batsman Shaun Marsh has announced his retirement from first-class cricket after 22 years of service to Western Australia with a total of 183 first-class matches under his belt, including 38 Tests for Australia between 2011 and 2019.
Shaun Marsh made his first-class debut at the age of 17 for WA in 2001 and his last first-class match was in February this year. The left-hander won his Sheffield Shield for the first time last year, leading WA in the final against Victoria.
The 39-year-old started this season, but being plagued with injuries, he has decided to call it quits from red-ball cricket effective immediately.
“This year in particular has been really hard,” Marsh told reporters. “It wasn’t the way I planned it after winning the Shield final last year. “I had great expectations of myself to win another Shield but through injuries it hasn’t worked out how I wanted it to.”
Shaun Marsh finishes as WA’s third-highest run scorer in the Shield, scoring 8347 runs with 20 centuries.
His 122 matches for WA is the second-most in WA’s history behind former captain Tom Moody.
“I batted for about 20 minutes and the quicks came over…I said to V [WA coach Adam Voges] that I’m done and want to do my weights [session],” Marsh said. “I probably did half my weights [session]. I walked out and thought, ‘that’s not me’. Over the last 24 hours it hit home that my time is done.
“It’s been an amazing journey, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d be here for 22 years and that’s something that I’m very proud of.”
Shaun Marsh made his Test debut for Australia in 2011 and hit a terrific century against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. But his form slump on away tours saw him being dropped.
His Test career included several comebacks and several axing because of inconsistency at the highest level, plus regular injuries hurt his Test career too.
The left-hander recorded his highest Test score of 182 vs West Indies in Hobart in 2015, where he was involved in a 449-run 4th-wicket stand with Voges. That is the second-highest partnership in Australia’s Test history.
In the 2017/18 home Ashes, Shaun Marsh hit centuries in Adelaide and Sydney. That was the last of his 6 Test centuries and he played in 10 more Tests after that. The elegant left-hander finishes with 2265 Test runs at an average of 34.31.
“Any time you get to represent your country…those memories will last forever,” Shaun Marsh said.
Marsh will continue to play in the BBL for Melbourne Renegades.
