Shaun Marsh has retired from first-class cricket after 22 years of service for Western Australia at Sheffield Shield level, and 38 Test matches for Australia.
Marsh made his first-class debut at the age of 17 for WA in 2001, and achieved a career-long ambition to win a Sheffield Shield title last season where he captained in the final in the absence of his brother Mitchell Marsh.
At 39, Marsh decided to play another season in 2022-23, but he has been plagued by injury and has only managed one Shield game this summer.
Having just returned to Perth club cricket after a fractured finger, Marsh’s retirement is effective immediately, meaning he won’t be part of WA’s bid to defend their title. They play Victoria at the WACA next week before hosting the final starting on March 23.
“This year in particular has been really hard,” Marsh told reporters. “It wasn’t the way I planned it after winning the Shield final last year.
“I had great expectations of myself to win another Shield but through injuries it hasn’t worked out how I wanted it to.”
Marsh finishes as WA’s third-highest run scorer in the Shield, tallying 8347 runs including 20 centuries. His 122 matches is the second-most in WA’s history behind former captain Tom Moody.
But at a training session on Tuesday, he realised his indefatigable first-class career was over.
“I batted for about 20 minutes and the quicks came over…I said to V [WA coach Adam Voges] that I’m done and want to do my weights [session],” Marsh said. “I probably did half my weights [session]. I walked out and thought, ‘that’s not me’. Over the last 24 hours it hit home that my time is done.
“It’s been an amazing journey, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d be here for 22 years and that’s something that I’m very proud of.”
