John Hastings, the injury-prone veteran Australian paceman, has retired from first-class and 50-over cricket.
According to a report in Fairfax, the 31-year-old informed Victorian teammates earlier this week of his decision. Hastings will no longer play for Victoria but is set to continue in the Big Bash League for the Melbourne Stars, where he was recently announced as captain.Hastings has been cruelled by a succession of injuries during the past 12 months, most recently injuring his back on the eve of the JLT Cup. He was on the comeback trail after injuring his ankle while playing for Worcestershire in August.A hulking bowler and useful lower-order batsman, Hastings played 29 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and was part of Australia’s Champions Trophy squad this year. His probing and accurate bowling was well suited to the shorter-formats and he was the world’s second-leading ODI wicket taker in 2016. Hastings also played 9 Twenty20 matches for Australia.
Hastings played just the one Test – finishing with match figures of 1/153 against South Africa at the WACA in 2012. However, he had an excellent first-class career claiming 239 wickets from 75 matches at an average of 27. He also had a respectable batting average of 22. Hastings was part of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield triumph in 2009-10.
