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South African paceman Morne Morkel has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the Test series against Australia beginning this week.
The 33-year-old has been a mainstay for the Proteas for more than a decade and has a combined 529 international wickets across all three formats.
He has a chance of becoming only the fifth South African to reach 300 Test wickets in the four-Test series against Australia, having taken 294 scalps at an average of 28.08 in 83 matches.
Morkel said: “It was an extremely tough decision but I feel the time is right to start a new chapter.
“I have a young family and a foreign wife, and the current demanding international schedule has put a lot of strain us. I have to put them first and this decision will only benefit us going forward.”
Morkel is part of an ageing South African Test side, with teammates AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla all on the wrong side of 30.
The three batsman have all doused retirement rumours in recent months, but have been tipped by some to bow out after the last Test of the series – in Johannesburg in April.
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