After losing his place in the Australian Test side and suffering a concussion while playing a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania, Adam Voges is contemplating retirement from cricket. The 37-year-old only made his Test debut last year and after an impressive start his form began to fade which led to him losing out his place in the side.
The Western Australian captain, who is currently playing in the Big Bash League for Perth Scorchers, is set to decide on whether this year will be the last for him in cricket at the conclusion of the BBL and the Sheffield Shield. He last played for Australia in the Hobart Test against South Africa.
Speaking to Radio 6PR about whether he would be playing at the end of this season, Voges remained non-committal. "I don't know," Voges said. "I will sit down at the end of this summer and work out whether that's it for me, or whether I think I've got another year.”
“It will come down to whether I think I am performing well enough and whether I'm enjoying it, whether the body will hold and whether there's some young guys who need opportunities," he added. "I will weigh all of that up.”
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Voges, who made his first-class debut nearly 15 years ago, still captains WA, whose chances of making it through to the final of the Sheffield Shield looks slim after losing four of their first five matches. He has played nearly 200 first-class matches and scored over 13,000 runs at an average of 47.51.
He made his Test debut for Australia against West Indies in 2015 and raced his way to 1,000 Test runs but ever since his 239 against New Zealand at Wellington in February 2016, he has had a torrid time. In the six Tests since then, Voges managed a solitary fifty and averaged just 7.50 in the Test series against South Africa before he was dropped.
"I'm realistic enough to know that my form didn't warrant me getting back in the side and at my age, I'm probably not getting back in at this stage," Voges said.
He also admitted that he still suffers some side-effects of being hit on the helmet against Tasmania in November, when was batting on 16* but he was also quick to add that it was nothing serious, even though he was retired under the new concussion regulations and didn’t play until December 5.
"There's been the odd headache or two and a little bit of dizziness every now and then," he said. "I've been assured that there's nothing too sinister about it all.”
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