By 22 years after making his debut for Western Australia at the age of 17 years old, Shaun Marsh announced his retirement from first-class cricket. The 39-year-old went on to play 38 Test matches for Australia after debuting as a teenage in 2001. He went on to win the Sheffield Shield title last season after captaining WA in the final, during the absence of his brother Mitchell Marsh.
He was determined to play another first-class season but played only one game this summer due to injuries. Revealing his decision to retire, Marsh told reporters that he didn’t want to end his career like this. As per ESPN Cricinfo, Marsh said, “This year in particular has been really hard. 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.”
Congratulations Shaun Marsh on an outstanding state career! pic.twitter.com/9DsqNHJCFC
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 10, 2023
Shaun Marsh’s memorable IPL tenure
Marsh was one of the star players in the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting from the inaugural season in 2008 till the 2017 season. He scored over 2470 runs in 71 games at an average of 3.95 and a strike rate of 132.74. In the process, he notched up a century and 20 half-centuries.
He just returned to Perth club cricket after recovering from a fractured finger but has now announced his retirement effective immediately. This suggests he won’t be a part of Western Australia’s title defense this season. WA play Victoria at the WACA next season, before hosting the final from March 23 onwards.
Interestingly, he is WA’s third-highest run-scorer in the Shield with a total of 8347 runs in 122 games. While he has registered 20 centuries, his tally of 122 games is the second-most appearance for the team after former captain Tom Moody. Further revealing details about his decision, the cricketer said he decided to do so after a training session on Tuesday.
The left-handed batsman made his last international appearance in 2019, in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. His last Test appearance came in the same year in January against India. In his international career, Marsh scored 2265 runs in 38 Tests, 2773 runs in 73 ODIs, and 255 runs in 15 T20Is.
