Speedster Tait bid adieu to cricket

Australian pacer, Shaun Tait has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket at the age of 34 on Monday.

Tait played his last competitive game for the Hobart Hurricanes against the Sydney Thunder at the 2016-17 Big Bash League (BBL).

He represented Australia in only three Test, 35 One-Day Internationals and 21 Twenty20 Internationals.

Despite not having represented Australia since January last year against India, Tait was a regular feature in the BBL and the Sheffield Shield. In fact it was his performance in this very tournament that paved the way for his selection in the Australian Test team in 2004. He eventually made his Test debut against England at Trent Bridge in the 2005 Ashes.

"I honestly wanted to play a couple more years, whether it was over in the UK or here," Tait told cricket.com.au. "I knew it was going to be difficult getting older to compete with the young blokes,” he added.

Tait was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, and clocked 161.1 kmph against England in 2010, which is among the fastest balls ever bowled in international cricket. The downside of his brutal pace, however, was a career strewn with injuries.

His ODI career however enjoyed a few highlights, including the 2007 World Cup winning campaign, where Tait played an integral role in Australia's triumph, snaring 23 wickets in 11 matches to finish joint-second on the tournament charts.

In all, Tait ended his ODI career with 62 wickets at 23.56. His strike rate of 27.20 is the second-best among Australia bowlers with at least 50 ODI wickets, behind only Mitchell Starc.