Gloucestershire opener Michael Klinger has announced he will retire from first-class cricket following the completion of Australia’s Sheffield Shield competition.
Klinger who has played for Gloucestershire since 2012 will continue in the limited-overs formats of the game.
The decision has not been taken lightly by Klinger, but with his wife Cindy facing the struggles of a cancer battle, it is now time for him to further concentrate on family life.
Michael Klinger retires from first class cricket
Most runs scored before making AUS debut (FC/ListA/T20)
22,165 – MICHAEL KLINGER
18,652 – Brad Hodge
17,919 – Michael Hussey
13,749 – David Hussey
@CricketAus— Swamp (@sirswampthing) March 2, 2018
At 37-years-old Klinger is Gloucestershire’s most experienced player having made invaluable contributions over the past few years. In 2015 he was named the Professional Cricketers Association Player of the Year for both the One-Day Cup and T20 Blast campaigns having finished top-scorer in both competitions. Following such a prolific year with the bat Klinger received his T20 international cap at the age of 36.
Despite Klinger achieving most of his success in the limited overs format of the game – his first-class career has been a huge success scoring 11,320 runs at an average of 39.30. Further to that Klinger has scored a prolific 12 of his 30 first-class centuries in the UK, despite only featuring in the County Championship competition for a limited number of years.
