http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Makhaya-Ntini-c73953 retires from international cricket
South Africa paceman Makhaya Ntini has retired from international cricket after having played 101 Tests and 173 ODI matches for his country.
The 33-year-old played his last Test for the Proteas in their Boxing Day Test against England in Durban in 2009, a match where the hosts were thumped by an innings and 98 runs and one where Ntini was unable to make even the slightest impression with the ball, as he recorded the dismal figures of 0-114 from 29 overs.
It was the performance that in effect spelled the end of a 12-year Test career, which had begun against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
Despite Ntini’s enduring success as an international cricketer, his retirement 10 months after he was axed from the Test side, with no apparent hope of making a reappearance for South Africa, was ultimately just a matter of time.
“It has been a wonderful journey for me to represent my country,” said Ntini in a statement on the cricket South Africa website. “I have so many great memories, which I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
“My career is by no means over; it just means that internationally my time has come to hang up my boots. Domestic cricket is thriving at the moment, and I want to be a part of the set up, as a player, for as long as possible.”
Ntini ends his international career having taken 390 Test wickets and having claimed 266 scalps in ODI matches.
He also departs as the only South Africa bowler to have taken 10 wickets at the home of cricket, Lord’s cricket ground in London, and his match figures of 13-132 against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 at Trinidad in 2005 are a South Africa record for the best bowling figures in a Test match.
His figures of 6-23 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in an ODI at Sahara Park Newlands in 2006 is also a South Africa bowling record.
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