Big hitting South African all-rounder Albie Morkel announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Wednesday (January 9).
Morkel, who played for close to 20 years of professional cricket, made his first-class debut for Easterns against Northerns in the 1999-2000 domestic season. He earned a call-up into the South African ODI set-up for the series against New Zealand in 2004 after snaring 12 scalps in List A games in the 2003-04 season.
Morkel registered his highest ODI score of 97 against Zimbabwe in 2007. He also snared 50 wickets in the ODI format. However, it was in the T20 format where Morkel made a name for himself, finishing with 4247 runs and 247 wickets.
He was a key member of IPL’s champion team Chennai Super Kings (CSK), taking 85 scalps and scoring 974 runs in the franchise-based tournament. When CSK won the IPL in 2011, he gave a glimpse of his skills, bagging 15 wickets.
Albie, the elder brother of Morne, also snared 26 scalps and accumulated 572 runs in T20Is for his country. The 37-year-old also played in a solitary Test against Australia at Newlands Cricket Ground in 2009.
He most recently captained Durban Heat in the inaugural season of Mzansi Super League (MSL) late last year and scored 57 not out in his final appearance, against the Tshwane Spartans.
Here’s how cricket fraternity reacted on Albie Morkel’s retirement:
It was a pleasure playing with you in #CSK & sharing the dressing room buddy @albiemorkel, wish you lots of success on your new journey.☝️🏟👌🤙 https://t.co/kkSmZeu9xI
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) January 9, 2019
It feels like yesterday we were 2 boys dreaming in the backyard about the game we love!! Well done on a magnificent career…proud to call you my brother!! @albiemorkel ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zI4McvGpDB
— Morne Morkel (@mornemorkel65) January 9, 2019
Well done @albiemorkel on a great career. You can be very proud of what you have achieved. Lots of trophies and plenty sixes … Wish you all the best with the next chapter .
— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) January 9, 2019
Sad day in my career! @albiemorkel thank you for everything you’ve done not just for me personally but for @Titans_Cricket on and off the field! Change room won’t be the same. You are a LEGEND!
— Chris Morris (@Tipo_Morris) January 9, 2019
