5 Cricketers who said goodbye to cricket in their early 30s

Things have changed to 180 degrees for the game of cricket in the last decade. T20 cricket has almost taken a dominating stage in comparison to two older formats. Nonetheless, Test cricket has regained its popularity after the arrival of the World Test Championship from 2019 to 2021.

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Many cricketers changed their attitude towards the game as they decided to play either of the formats of the games after quitting permanently from any other format. So, here we’ll have a look at five cricketers who retired either from International cricket or a format of the game in the early 30s of their age.

1. Thisara Perera, All-Rounder – Sri Lanka

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It was the T20 World cup of 2014 when Thisara Perera stunned everyone with his stellar outings throughout the entire tournament. He played for the team as a pace-bowling all-rounder during his career and also captained the Sri Lankan team in some games as well.

Perera made his first International appearance for the Lankan team 13 years back in 2009 against India in the Kolkata ODI. Everything was going almost well with southpaw with skills of right-arm pace bowling. But he shocked everyone by announcing his retirement from International cricket at the age of 32.

Speaking of his career, then Perera scored 2338 runs with the bat and scalped 175 wickets with the ball in the ODIs. Whereas, he scored 1204 runs and scalped 51 wickets in the shortest format of the game.

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2. Ben Stokes, All-rounder - England

The New Zealander turned out to be one of the all-time great all-rounders for England. Ben Stokes has a celebrated career to his name. His amazing knock in the final of the 2019 ODI World Cup guided the English team to the historic title triumph for the first time in the history of the ODI World Cup.

The 31-year-old shook the corridors of World Cricket with a sudden announcement of retirement from limited-overs cricket. He played his last ODI against South Africa at Chester-le-Street which England eventually ended up losing. After playing in 105 ODIs, Stokes scored 2924 runs with a fine average of 38.98 along with 74 wickets to his name.

He also got the award of New Zealander of the year for his heroics in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand itself.

3. Graeme Smith, Captain, and Opener - South Africa

The most successful Test captain in the world among all who ever played the game and captained their respective teams. Graeme Smith came into the frame of international cricket for the first time when he played against the Australian team in Cape Town. He wore the South African cap in 347 international matches. Out of these, he played 116 tests and captained the team in 109 matches which is the maximum number of Test matches as captain for any player in the history of the game.

Citing the poor performances, Smith hung his boots eight years back in the year 2014. He was 33 when he bid adieu to all forms of cricket. Smith still has the record of most Test wins as captain to his name.

4. Shane Bond, Pacer - New Zealand

The Christchurch-born pace-bowling sensation amazed the cricketing world with his fiery pace and deadly bouncers in 2001. Shane Bond was 26 when he appeared for the first time in international cricket for New Zealand. The 47-year-old played 82 ODI matches alongside 18 Tests in his international career. Bond also appeared in 20 T20 internationals for his country.

The veteran hung his boots in the international cricket after a match against England in the 2010 T20 World Cup. Before retiring at the age of 34, Bond scalped 87 Test wickets, 147 ODI wickets, and 25 T20I wickets respectively. Later on, Shane Bond served in the role of mentor for the Mumbai-based franchise of the Indian T20 League.

5. Michael Clarke, Batter, and Captain, Australia

The World champion Aussie skipper Michael Clarke earned the respect of cricket experts and the fans as well. Right-Hander from South Wales made his first appearance for the Australian team 18 years back in the year 2004. He also captained the team after legendary skipper Ricky Ponting stepped down from the duties of captaincy.

The Australian team won the 2015 ODI World Cup under the leadership of Michael Clarke. He had also a triple century to his name in Test cricket with the highest score of unbeaten 329 runs. Clarke played 115 Tests, 245 ODIs, and 34 T20Is in his international. In these matches, he went on to score more than 16,000 international runs.

Clarke was 34 when he had the swan song of his career in the Oval Test against England seven years back in 2015.