Australian fast bowler John Hastings has retired from all forms of cricket after doctors couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t have a bleed in his lungs when he bowled.
A mystery condition – the first symptoms of which he had first experienced several years ago – had forced Hastings to put his career on hold last month.
The 33-year-old Hastings, who had played for the Melbourne Stars for seven BBL seasons and captained them in 2017-18, had moved to the Sydney Sixers for the upcoming season, but had to end his career with a “lot of grey area” still surrounding his “long-term health”.
“There was just a lot of grey area surrounding long-term health, whether it was causing any damage, and if there was any potential to have a fatal bleed on the field,” Hastings told the Sydney Morning Herald. “They just really couldn’t say yes or no. And I wasn’t happy with that.
“It was a pretty tough little period, the last five or six months, but I’ve come to terms with it now, and I’m pretty comfortable with where it’s all at.
“I would have loved a Big Bash title. That would have been unbelievable because I think it’s an amazing competition. And we had our chances with the Stars throughout the years. [But] it wasn’t to be.”
Hastings represented Australia in one Test, 29 ODIs and nine T20Is. He retired from Test and ODIs in October last year to concentrate on T20s.
Overall, Hastings played 113 List A matches in which he took 179 wickets at an average of 27.59 and his best figures of 6 for 45 came for Australia against Sri Lanka in August 2016. In addition to this, Hastings also represented Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, Durham and Worcestershire in England, Kandurata Warriors in the Sri Lanka Premier League and Quetta Gladiators in the PSL earlier this year. He played 106 T20s in total for 116 wickets and finished with an average of 24.70 and economy rate of 7.95.
