John Hastings retires from all first-class, List-A cricket

What's the story?

Australia fast bowler John Hastings has announced his retirement from one-day internationals and Tests but will remain available for selection in T20Is. The 31-year-old cited repetitive injuries as the reason behind his decision and would now focus solely on T20s. Hastings has retired from first-class and List-A cricket as well.

He has been a mainstay in Australia's limited-overs sides -- fitness permitting -- and has played just one Test for Australia, back in 2012. "Trying to get back after four shoulder reconstructions, four major ankle operations, and a major knee operation has just worn me down," Hastings told cricket.com.au.

"The body is just giving up and every time I try to load back to get back to four-day cricket or one-day cricket, it seems as if something else goes. It was a tough decision, one that wasn't made lightly, but I've decided to give the two longer formats away and focus on T20," he added.

In case you didn't know...

Hastings has picked up 42 wickets from 29 ODIs and 7 wickets from 9 T20Is. He made his first-class, List-A and T20 debuts in 2007 and since then has been a regular fixture in the Victoria squad.

Over a 10-year-long career, Hastings has picked up 239 wickets from 75 first-class games at 27.22 and 179 wickets from 113 List-A games at 27.59. Additionally, he has 104 wickets from 93 T20s.

He's also a handy lower-order bat as his T20 strike-rate of 157 suggests.

The details

The pacer was world's leading fast bowler in 2016 when he picked up 29 wickets from 15 matches, the second-most in that year alongside Imran Tahir, only behind Adam Zampa, who was the highest wicket-taker.

"I've had a tough run with injuries lately but I've still thoroughly enjoyed every moment with the Victorian boys over the years," Hastings quipped about his recent tryst with injuries.

"I also want to thank everyone involved over my Victorian journey who helped me become the cricketer I am today. Everyone has been amazing every step of the way.

"I've still got a bit left in the tank though, and I can't wait to get back on the park with the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash," he added.

Author's take

This shock retirement comes as a blow to Australia's 50-over plans given that the team has already been struggling with workload management issues pertaining to several of its fast bowlers. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood didn't take part in the recently-concluded ODI series in India and Patrick Cummins has returned home after Australia's 4-1 loss in that series in order to have sufficient rest and allay the risk of injuries before the Ashes.

It remains to be seen if Australia look at Hastings as an asset in the shortest format of the game, now that he won't be available for complete tours.