Former South Africa all-rounder Johan Botha on Wednesday (January 23) announced his immediate retirement from all formats of the game, citing “wear and tear on his body and sheer physical fatigue”.

The 36-year-old spinner, who received his Australian citizenship in 2016, made the surprise announcement following Hobart Hurricanes' loss to the Sydney Sixers in a Big Bash League 2018-19  (BBL) match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. He moved to Australia to play for South Australia and even captained the Redbacks in Australian domestic cricket.

In his 19-year long cricketing career, Botha, who started his career as a medium-pacer, become an off-spinner, represented South Africa more than 100 international matches across formats, while captained the Proteas in 21 of those games, and played for countless T20 franchises.

The all-rounder, who had played all 10 matches for the first-place Hurricanes in the ongoing BBL 08, played five Test matches, 78 one-day internationals, and 40 T20 Internationals from 2005 to 2012 for South Africa.

Botha said in a statement released by Hurricanes on its official website, “It is obviously a very emotional moment for me, but I just feel deep down that the time has come for me to move onto the next phase of my career. Cricket has been a part of my life for 19 years & a dream of mine to play at this level since I can remember. I have always left everything out there on the field, but at the moment I just feel like it’s time for me to step aside & let the next players come through.”

The right-hander continued, “Coming into this current season I had some injury concerns & getting through every game has become harder. This has given me the final nudge to make this very difficult but important decision, to hang up my boots for good.”

Botha signed off by saying, “Thank you to my amazing wife for always being there for me, there’s so many things we have gone through that no one else will ever know!”

(With Press Trust of India Inputs)