BJ Watling to retire from all forms of cricket after World Test Championship Final

BJ Watling, widely regarded as the best wicket-keeper batsman in Test cricket over the past decade, has confirmed that he will be retiring from all forms of cricket post the World Test Championship final against India next month. Watling, 35, started his Test career in 2009 as a specialist batsman, but then took up the gloves, a role that has yielded him great success. In the 73 Tests he’s played to date, Watling has kept wickets in 65 of them, in which he’s averaged 39.77 with the bat and has also taken 249 catches to go along with the same.

In a video posted on New Zealand Cricket’s official Youtube channel, the 35-year-old confirmed that he will be hanging up his boots from all forms of cricket (including first-class matches) post the World Test Championship final, that will be played in Southampton from June 18. This will mean that Watling, provided he’s fit, will feature in three more Test matches, with the Kiwis set to lock horns with England in a two-Test series that will commence on June 2nd. 

A gifted cricketer who made his international debut in 2009, Watling never got going in white-ball cricket but has enjoyed enormous success in the longest format. The wicket-keeper batsman averages 38.11 with the bat in Test cricket and has eight centuries to his name, one of which was a double ton against England that he struck two years ago. Famously, in 2014, Watling was involved in a marathon 352-run stand with Brendon McCullum, a partnership that helped the Kiwis register a 1-0 series win over India seven years ago.