Shaun Tait bids adieu to all forms of cricket

Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, thus ending his illustrious 15-year career at the competitive level.

Reflecting on his decision, the 34-year-old insisted that that there is no point in continuing if he is not able to contribute well on the field.

"I honestly wanted to play a couple more years, whether it was over in the UK or here. I knew it was going to be difficult getting older to compete with the young blokes. I'm 34 years old and I suppose when you're not contributing on the field as much as you'd like to, it's time to finish up," cricket.com.au quoted Tait as saying.

Known as The Wild Thing for his blistering pace and unconventional bowling action, Tait has played a total of three Tests, 35 ODIs and 21 T20Is for Australia.

Tait, who made his international debut against England in Nottingham during the 2005 Ashes series, was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, clocking 161.1 kmph against England in 2010 which is among the fastest balls ever bowled in international cricket.

Having endured an injury-plagued career, Tait called time on his first-class career in 2009 before bidding adieu to his ODI career in 2011, following Australia's World Cup quarter-final exit.

The fast bowler, who made his last appearance for Australia in a T20 international against India in Sydney early last year, also displayed some really impressive performances as a T20 specialist, playing in leagues around the world.

However, his latest Big Bash season was marred by dwindling form as he was forced to miss parts of the tournament due to an elbow problem that has troubled him for over a decade.

"I knew during the Big Bash that I was going to finish up. The elbow has pretty much gone off a cliff now, it's done and dusted. It would have been nice to play another year maybe, but there's no point getting more surgery and play when I'm 35 when I'm probably not up to it anymore," said the Adelaide-born cricketer who represented Hobart Hurricanes in the 2016 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL).