South Africa’s Lizelle Lee announces retirement from international cricket

South African cricketer Lizelle Lee has announced her retirement from international cricket with immediate effect. She confirmed the same via her official social media handles on Friday, July 8. The explosive opener represented the Proteas in 184 international matches where she went on to amass  5253 runs across formats including four centuries.

Lee decided to bring curtains down on her cricketing career ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against England that gets underway on Monday, July 11 in Northampton. She was an integral part of the South African squad that had played in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 earlier this year where they finished as the semi-finalists going down to the eventual runners-up England.

Lee’s retirement comes as yet another setback for the Proteas women after one of their star cricketers Mignon du Preez announced her retirement from Tests and One Day Internationals in April. However, du Preez will be available for selection in the T20Is.

Meanwhile, the South African women’s team have also found themselves in a fix after this shocking retirement heading into the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham this year. The ‘Rainbow Nation’ is one of eight participants in the women’s cricket T20 competition.

Coming back to Lizelle’s international career, it can be argued that the 30-year-old has bid adieu to the game at the peak of her career, having won the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award in January this year.