Legendary South African batter Hashim Amla has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Amla, who has been playing for Surrey post his international retirement, will not return to represent the county in 2023.
Notably, Amla had already played for Surrey in 2013 and 2014 and signed a Kolpak deal in 2019 after bidding farewell to international cricket following the ODI World Cup that year. Amla’s final appearance in professional cricket came against Lancashire in the 2022 County Championship. During that season, the right-handed batter amassed over 700 runs at an average near 40, helping Surrey win the prestigious title.
In an illustrious career that spanned two decades, Amla scored 34,104 runs across all professional formats – 9,282 of which came in his 124 Test appearances. This included 28 hundreds and a brilliant 311 not out against England in 2012, becoming the first Proteas batter to smash a triple-century in Tests.
Amla accumulated 8113 runs including 27 hundreds in 181 ODIs and 1,277 runs in 44 T20Is. He has also started his coaching career with a stint as MI Cape Town’s batting coach in the ongoing SA20 2023.
“I have great memories of the Oval ground, and to finally leave it as a player fills me with immense gratitude for what has been. A sincere thank you to Alec Stewart and the entire Surrey staff, players and Members for their support. The Surrey ship runs so professionally that it would make any international player feel a sense of honour just to be involved with it. I wish them all the best and many more trophies,” said Amla in an official statement.
Stewart, the former England cricketer who has worked with Amla at Surrey, described the South African as a fantastic player and a wonderful human being.
“Everyone at Surrey County Cricket Club will be sad to see Hashim retire, but we all applaud what has been a phenomenal career. He will quite rightly go down as a great of the game. Hashim is a fantastic cricketer and a wonderful person. He has been an incredible resource for the team to learn from on and off the field,” said Stewart.
