Veteran Kiwi bowler Ewen Chatfield retires at 68

New Zealand pacer Ewen Chatfield, famously known as the Naenae Express, finally ran "out of steam" as he has announced his retirement from cricket at the age of 68.

The veteran bowler played his last match for his Wellington Club Naenae Old Boys. His team won the match but Chatfield's bowling did not go well as he was smashed all over the ground. After the match, the pacer informed his teammates about his retirement.

"It might seem silly but I have standards, even at 68, and if I can't play to those standards I thought it is time to flag it. We just had a fantastic win. We needed seven off the last over chasing 236 and we got it off the last ball," Stuff.co.nz quoted Chatfield, as saying.

Talking about his bowling performance, Chatfield said, "I got slogged all over the park. I got smashed".

Chatfield has a reputation of a fiery bowler but secretly, he desired to score a century. The wish, however, did not get fulfilled as he got out for a duck in his final match.

"I got a golden duck but don't put that in the paper," Chatfield said after the match.

The pacer also suggested the headline for his retirement saying, "The Naenae Express has run out of steam. I would not mind that as a heading."

Chatfield had started his cricketing career in February 1968 at the Naenae Park and at the same venue, he bid adieu to the cricketing world.