Image courtesy of: Zimbio
“I felt it was the right time to move on”
Australia batsman Marcus North has surprised the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from domestic cricket.
The timing of North’s decision to retire seems a bit odd as he was named Sheffield Shield Player of the Year for the 2013-14 season after scoring 886 runs at a brilliant average of 63.28.
“I felt it was the right time to move on, in many ways, from family reasons through to the way I feel about my cricket at the moment,” North said. “I really enjoyed arguably one of the best seasons in my career, but it’s exhausting and I’ve got to the stage now where it’s a big effort to maintain that over a season.
“When the times get tough and you feel that you’re not going to be able to drag yourself out of it, well I’ve always said that’s about time to move on and that’s how I feel. The guys are in a really good place now and you’re starting to see the influence of Justin [Langer, the WA coach] and his coaching group coming through. We’re playing a tougher brand of cricket now and there’s a tougher attitude within the group.
“It’s their journey now and it’s time for them to enjoy that. It’s a huge bonus [to go out on my own terms] and I’m just so grateful to get another opportunity this year after last year and I’m thrilled I made the most of it. It would have been a fairytale finish to win a final as well, but to play in one is special to me as well. It reflects the cricket we played all year.”
Legendary Australia opener Justin Langer, who had been North’s team-mate while representing Western Australia, paid tribute to his good friend, saying: “You always judge a person’s character by the way they come back from adversity and Marcus relinquished the captaincy, he was dropped from the Warriors last year and then to come back and have a standout season is a real credit to his character.
“Marcus was my vice-captain for about three years and took over from me as captain.
“Playing together, I always appreciated his talent and, while he would be the first to admit that he was always striving for consistency in his career, when he was on, he was a magnificent player to watch. Looking back on his career – and we’ve spoken a lot about this, firstly when together and now since coaching – he’s always been striving for that consistency and the irony is that, now, in what has become his last year, he’s probably found that formula which works so brilliantly.”