Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist and a five-time World Cup winner, Rachael Haynes who also is one among the most elite cricketing faces in Australia and all over the world, aged 35, in a shocking move, has declared herself retired from international cricket and had cleared that the upcoming 8th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (W-BBL) will be her last cricketing appearance.
On the back of consistent performances, Rachael Haynes earned herself a tag of ‘an ever reliable player,‘ the maturity in her game and around the group has always had her looked on as a leader and being a core part of the Australian team, there simply is a complete lot of Rachael Haynes that Australia will be missing out on.
Rachael Haynes in her statement said, “Playing at this level isn’t possible without the support of many people. From clubs, states, coaches, family and friends, I’m so grateful to those who helped me along the way. In particular, I want to thank my parents Ian and Jenni, and partner Leah for their unwavering support. To all the teammates across my career, you are the reason I’ve played as long as I have. You’ve inspired me to be better every day. I’ve learnt something from all of you, on and off the field.
“You’ve challenged me as a player, helped me grow as a person, and most importantly, made cricket fun. One of the great things about having a long career is watching those around you develop. I’m extremely proud of the way this team has brought players in and nurtured their development. The ability to help players transition smoothly has been instrumental to our team’s success. To be a leader within this environment has been the greatest privilege of my career.”
Rachael Haynes said that she “wasn’t that excited” about the upcoming cricket which helped her take the retirement decision. #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/aVEUkjmcsG
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 15, 2022
Rachael Haynes has called it time on a hard-made, 13-year long, and illustrious career spanning 167 games in representing Australia. A breakup of figures sees, she in 71 One-day International outings (77 matches) got to 2585 runs, at an average of 39.76, a strike rate of 77.95 and with the highest scores of 130 and 118, got a couple of centuries and as many as 19 fifties to her name. She also has got 7 wickets in 7 innings with the best figures of 3/10.
Her 6-match Test career (11 innings), saw her score 383 runs at an average of 34.81 and with the highest score of 98 that’d come on debut, ends her career with 3 fifties. In 6 innings with the ball, she’s picked up a couple of wickets and has got the best figures of 1/0. The shortest, T20I format sees her with 850 runs coming off 56 innings (84 matches) at an average of 26.56, a strike rate of 117.72 and with the highest score of 69*, finishing with 3 fifties. With the ball, in 6 innings, she picked up 4 wickets and has got to best figures of 3/19.
A decorated career sees Rachael Haynes as a World Cup champion from the 2013 and 2022 editions, Women’s T20 World Cup champion from 2010, 2012, 2018 and 2020 editions and the most recent on the international stage being the Commonwealth Gold Gold medal win in Birmingham, England. In domestic cricket, she won the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) for 6 straight times starting from 2011-12 to the 2018-19 season. In the Women’s Big Bash League, she won a couple of titles in the 2015–16 and 2020–21 editions and also is a 4-time winner of the Australian Women’s Twenty20 Cup having won in 4 successive editions starting from 2009-10 to 2014-15.
Talking, Running, Catching
She can do it all. She is Rachael Haynes ❤️😭#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/mh8H0FsSmT
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 15, 2022
Her long list of individual awards sees her as the WNCL Player of the Tournament from the 2017-18 edition, WNCL Captains’ Most Valuable Player from the 2017-18 edition, a 3-time WNCL Player of the Final having won the title in 2011-12, 2013-14 and 2014-15 editions. She also got the Sharon Tredrea Award in 2010-11 and then the Alex Blackwell Medal in 2017-18 and the most recent was the ICC Women’s Player of the Month in March 2022.
Rachael Haynes’ retirement has come at a time when Australia has not got a full-time head coach in place, is without a skipper and now with her retirement has left the side without a vice-captain as well and has done so days after pressing her name forward in leading Australia in Meg Lanning’s absence, but now It sadly isn’t to be.