Hashim Amla announces retirement from all formats of cricket

Legendary South African batter Hashim Amla on Wednesday, January 18, announced retirement from all formats of cricket.

The 39-year-old has already hung up his boots from international cricket after the 2019 World Cup, where South Africa missed the qualification mark for the semi-finals.

Amla represented the Proteas in 124 Tests, 181 One-Day Internationals, and 44 T20I matches in a storied career between 2004 and 2019. With 18553 runs in 346 matches, Amla finished as South Africa's third-most run-getter in internationals, behind AB de Villiers (19864) and Jacques Kallis (25422).

After his international retirement, Amla signed a Kolpak deal with Surrey after representing them in 2013 and 2014. Amla scored over 600 runs in Surrey's title-winning campaign in the 2022 County Championship.

While expressing his gratitude to the club and Surrey's Director of Cricket, Alec Stewart, Amla was quoted on Surrey's official website, stating:

“I have great memories of the Oval ground (Surrey's home ground) and to finally leave it as a player fills me with immense gratitude for what has been."

His statement further read:

“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. I wish them all the best and many more trophies.”

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"Hashim Amla is a fantastic cricketer and a wonderful person" - Alec Stewart

Amla amassed 19521 runs in 265 first-class matches at an average of 48.55, including 93 fifties and 57 centuries. He slammed 124 against Kent and 133 versus Northants in his last county season.

Amla played his final county cricket match against Lancashire in September 2022 and was adamant about not returning to the club for the following season.

While lavishing praise on the former South Africa captain in his statement, Stewart mentioned:

"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."

He added:

"Everyone at Surrey wishes him the best in the future, and I am sure all our Members and supporters would like to thank him for his time here and congratulate him on such a decorated career."

Amla has been associated with various commentary stints for SuperSport, Africa's giant broadcaster. He was on their commentary panel alongside Sunil Gavaskar for India's tour of South Africa last year.

Amla is currently playing the role of MI Cape Town's batting coach in the inaugural season of SA20, which is South Africa's newly-branded franchise tournament.