Sheffield Shield loses three veterans to retirement

Australian cricket has lost 402 games worth of first-class experience after WA skipper Adam Voges, Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley, and former Test spinner Xavier Doherty all retired from the domestic ranks on Wednesday.

Voges, who became the oldest player in Test history to score a century on debut as a 35-year-old in 2015, says the time is right for him to bow out after pushing his body and mind to their limits.

The 37-year-old has endured a disappointing Sheffield Shield season, averaging just 17.22 across 11 innings.

Voges still has a glimmer of hope of ending his WA career with an elusive Shield title but the Warriors will need to beat NSW this week and rely on other results to fall their way if they are to reach the final.

The WA stalwart announced his retirement from international cricket last month, with his form slump at the start of the summer resulting in his axing from the Test team.

Without the lure of international cricket to drive him on, Voges said it became increasingly hard to maintain his hunger in domestic ranks.

“This season has been particularly physically and mentally tough after being left out of the Test team and no longer having the carrot of international cricket to strive for,” said Voges, who finished with a Test average of 61.87 from 20 matches.

“After 15 years of first-class cricket, my mind and body have been pushed to their limit. I have given my all to WA cricket.

“Ultimately my form this season hasn’t been good enough.”

Voges won’t be hanging up his bat altogether. The classy batsman will play for Middlesex in the County Championship in England this year, and he’s a chance to continue his Twenty20 career with the Perth Scorchers.

Hartley, who will return from a finger injury this week, is also aiming to bow out with a Shield title but the Bulls must beat Victoria to have any hope of reaching the final, against the Bushrangers.

The 34-year-old, who averaged 34.4 with the bat in first-class cricket, was unlucky to have never represented Australia at any level.

He came close in the 2009 Ashes when he was flown over as cover for one match but his services weren’t required.

Doherty played four Tests, 60 ODIs, and 11 Twenty20s for Australia but the Tasmanian perennially struggled to cement his spot in the national set-up, and fell out of favour with Tasmania in Shield ranks this season.

The 34-year-old was a bolt from the blue when he made his Test debut in the Ashes in 2010.

However, like so many other Australian spinners in the post Shane Warne-era, Doherty quickly faded from the Test scene.

Voges will go down as an all-time great in WA cricket.

He sits fourth on WA’s all-time Shield runs list after plundering 7433 runs across 111 matches.

Voges has the second most runs for WA in domestic one-day cricket, with his 3133 runs from 91 matches behind only Justin Langer.

He also played 20 Tests, 31 one-day internationals, and seven T20 Internationals for Australia.