Wellington, Jan 26: Veteran batsman Nathan Astle announced
his retirement today, shocking his New Zealand team-mates and further
weakening their fragile batting line-up just weeks away from the World Cup.
The 35-year-old, New Zealand`s second most prolific one-day
scorer behind skipper Stephen Fleming, said he was struggling with motivation
for the tournament after patchy form in recent seasons.
"I have been fighting this day for about eight months," Astle said
in a statement.
"I so desperately wanted to go to my fourth world cup, but deep down inside
I knew that I was lacking motivation and the enjoyment levels were just not
there," he said.
He said his enthusiasm first faltered last year but he soldiered on because
of a desire to play in his fourth world cup. But a month a go "it really
started to hit home that this was no longer the place for me".
Coach John Bracewell said the decision came out of the
blue, describing Astle as a "great player and a great team player".
"It was a bit of a shock to all of us and quite disruptive to our plans
but I respect his decision," he said referring to New Zealand`s build-up
for the World Cup starting in March.
"Timing`s never great this close to a big tournament and Nathan was going
to be a serious part of that because of his experience and the younger players
he was assisting to mentor."
Bureau Report
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