Ant Botha retires from competitive cricket due to persistent elbow injury - Cricket News Update
Ant Botha, has called it a day in his county cricket career at the age of 34, owing to his persistent elbow injury.
"It's a sad day but I have known for about a month that it was coming but I've got some found memories of a sixteen-year career, said Botha.
The left-arm orthodox spinner has been representing the Derbyshire and Warwickshire counties at different times.
"You just have to accept the situation. In the last year I did a quarter of the batting I needed to do because the workload is just too much for my elbow," said Botha.
He played his last game in July, 2011 for the Bears, in the Clydesdale Bank 40.
Botha, a South African, made his domestic debut representing Natal B in the UCB Bowl of 1996. Having shown superb bowling skills, Botha joined the South African Under-19 cricket team and made his first tour to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, where he played
three Tests.
Looking at his marvellous performance, Botha was included in the Natal team in the same year, where he justified his selection by posting his side to the third spot in the Standard Bank League of 1996/97.
The spinner then moved to England in 2003, after he discovered that his mother also belonged to an English background. He started his career in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sussex-c852 Second XI and then soon he made his debut for Derbyshire in April
2004.
Botha also had been offering useful batting services as he hit 158 runs while batting at the eighth spot against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867.
He also represented Derbyshire in the Twenty20 Floodlit Cup in the year 2007. His team reached the final of the tournament, where they faced a defeat at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783.
In 2008, Botha joined http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warwickshire-c862 and also availed the chance of representing the team as a captain.
Bowling in 137 first-class matches, Botha has claimed 307 wickets at an average of 34.44. Batting in 212 first-class innings, he scored 4403 runs at an average of 23.92, including his highest 156.
Botha has claimed 145 wickets, while bowling in 149 List A matches, at an average of 29.68, including his best bowling figures of 5/43.
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