Australian bowler Ben Hilfenhaus retires from First-Class cricket

Ben Hilfenhaus, Australian fast bowler has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. Struggling with injuries has forced him to took this decision and quit his first class career of cricket. However he will continue to play in the domestic limited overs cricket for Melbourne Stars.

He made his first-class debut in 2005 and bagged record 39 wickets on a debut. He has best bowling figures of 7/58 in first-class cricket, achieved in his first season for Tasmania. In January 2007 Hilfenhaus made his One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) debuts for Australia.

Hilfenhaus has played 27 Tests, 25 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 7 Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).

Hilfenhaus told the Cricket Australia website on Wednesday “I’ve had to make a decision with regards to my body not being able to perform at the level I’d like in four-day cricket anymore.”

“I’ve had a problem with my hamstring attachment for pretty much the whole summer. That hasn’t really gone away which tells me I need a little break from the game for the short-term, have a mini pre-season and get myself fit and strong and ready to play white-ball cricket for the Melbourne Stars.”

He decided to take break from cricket for few months and also decided to not to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

 “As long as my body can hold out in the T20 format I hopefully will be able to play for as long as I can. It makes the decision a little bit easier to hang up the boots from red-ball cricket; hopefully it will prolong my the end of my white-ball career,” he added.

“I’ve still got that passion to play at that level. I’ll try and play for as long as I can and I definitely feel like I’ve got a few years left in me, that’s for sure.”