West Indies opener Lendl Simmons announced his retirement from international cricket on Monday (July 18). Simmons, who made his debut for the West Indies way back in December 2006 in an ODI against Pakistan, represented the Caribbean nation for 16 long years.
Simmons was a part of West Indies’ triumphant T20 World Cup campaigns in 2012 and 2016. His masterful innings of 82 in the T20 WC semifinal against India in 2016 is often regarded as one of his best knocks.
Simmons’ last outing in national colours came in T20 WC in 2021, where he made only 16 off 35 balls in his side’s loss to South Africa. Overall, in 144 games across formats, the right-handed batter accumulated 3763 runs in international cricket.
“When I wore the Maroon Colours of the West Indies Cricket for the first time on debut in ODIs on December 7, 2006, little did I know that my international career would have lasted 16 years, but my passion and love for the sport fuelled me every day,” Simmons said in his statement on Twitter.
“I’m closing this chapter of International cricket, having played 144 matches and scoring 3763 runs from all formats. I want to thank the West Indies Cricket Team for the opportunities, and I wish the new crop of WI players all the best and to keep on believing in yourselves and your abilities,” he added.
— Lendl Simmons (@54simmo) July 18, 2022
Notably, Simmons’ announcement came on the same day when his former teammate Denesh Ramdin decided to hang up his boots for West Indies. Ramdin, who debuted on July 13, 2006, in a Test match against Sri Lanka, finished his international career with 74 Tests, 139 ODIs and 71 T20Is.
Ramdin managed to score 2898 runs in red-ball format, 2200 in ODIs and 636 in the shortest format. Overall, the right-handed batter smashed six hundreds and 24 half-centuries in the international arena.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce my retirement from international cricket. The past 14 years have been a dream come true. I fulfilled my childhood dreams by playing cricket for Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies. My career afforded me the opportunity to see the world, make friends from different cultures and still be able to appreciate where I came from,” Ramdin wrote on Instagram.
“Even though I am announcing my retirement from international cricket, I am not retiring from professional cricket. I will still be playing franchise cricket around the world,” he added.
