Rob Nicol retires from all cricket

Rob Nicol, the former New Zealand batsman and medium pacer, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday, 9 June.

Nicol, 35, announced his retirement by posting a picture on Twitter of some of the caps he earned over a long career, simply saying: “Finished”.

Nicol played two Tests, 22 one-day internationals and 21 Twenty20 Internationals for New Zealand between 2011 – when he made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in Harare – and 2013.

In all, he scored 941 runs from 44 innings to go with 15 wickets in international cricket.

Nicol’s most remarkable feat in international cricket came on ODI debut, when he scored a 131-ball 108*. He also captained Auckland to the T20 championship title in December 2015 and was also a part of the New Zealand side at the ICC World Twenty20s in 2010 and 2012.

Nicol’s best, however, was saved for the domestic circuit.

Since starting out in the 2001-02 season, he played 130 first-class matches, scoring 6319 runs and picking 43 wickets. In 151 List A matches, he has 4717 runs and 96 wickets, and 2712 runs and 69 wickets in 122 T20Is.

Nicol began his career with Auckland, spending eight seasons with them and then moved to Canterbury in 2009-10 for five seasons before returning home and finally wrapping up with Otago in the latest edition of the Plunket Shield.