Australian Nathan Bracken retires from cricket
Australian left-arm bowler Nathan Bracken, with tears in his eyes, announced his retirement from International cricket on 24 January, 2011. He was unable to recover from a persistent knee injury which forced him out of cricket at the age of 33. His retirement
highlights the physical impact that international bowlers face during their competitive careers.
Nathan Bracken was born on 12 September, 1977 in Penrith, New South Wales. Like most young Australians, Bracken loved and followed cricket passionately. He was influenced by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 fast bowlers like Alan Davidson, Jeff Thomson, Len Pascoe, Greg
Matthews, Geoff Lawson, Glenn McGrath, Doug Bollinger and Brett Lee.
The Australian Cricket Academy recognised Bracken’s ability to move the ball in the air and off the seam in both directions. To date, Bracken is considered by most to be one of the finest fast bowlers groomed by NSW for the Australia National Team.
Bracken started his first-class career for NSW. His first match was against Queensland on 27
October, 1998 at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Bracken was quite discouraged by his performance as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834 beat NSW by an inning as Bracken was wicket-less. He bowled 41 overs and conceded 86 runs. Bracken went on to play 6 matches in the 1998-99 season
and managed to take 11 wickets.
His performance blossomed in 2000-01 as he took 29 wickets with a respectable average of 23.72. Bracken was the second leading wicket taker for NSW after Stuart MacGill. Bracken’s performance was honoured with the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year Award
in 2001. The award highlighted the hard work and enthusiasm that he brought to the field. He has played 67 first-class matches and taken 215 wickets. His valuable contribution with the ball led to many victories for NSW.
Bracken was in and out of the Australian Test squad, but is always regarded as being a fierce competitor. He was recognised as a specialist one day bowler that used the white ball more effectively. He started his One Day International career on 11
January, 2001 against West Indies at Melbourne, Australia. Bracken was at the height of his career after the 2008 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 tour when he was ranked as the top one day bowler. He played 116 ODI matches for Australia and claimed 174 wickets with an average
of 24.36 with the best of five for 47 runs.
Bracken started his Test career on 4 December, 2003 at Brisbane against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. He managed to take three wickets in both innings of that drawn match. He went on to play only five Test matches and took just 12 wickets at an average of 42.06 with his best of
four wickets for 71 runs.
His T20 debut was against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 on 9 January, 2006. He appeared in just 19 matches and claimed 19 wickets at an average of 23.05 with his best of three wickets for 11 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 National Team. His consistent performances have earned him worldwide fame and recognition as being one of the finest one day fast bowlers. Bracken’s retirement from
cricket will leave a large gap in the Australian team. He will definitely be missed by cricket fans from all over the world.
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