Former Australia international Shaun Marsh announces retirement from professional cricket

Marsh will make his final appearance when Melbourne Renegades take on Sydney Thunder on January 17

Former Australia international Shaun Marsh has announced his retirement from professional cricket.

The 40-year-old will make his final appearance when Melbourne Renegades take on Sydney Thunder on January 17.

He had previously confirmed his retirement from first-class cricket, bringing the curtain down on his red-ball career in March 2023.

^{Marsh has continued to shine for Melbourne Renegades in his final season [Darrian Traynor/Getty Images]}

^{Marsh previously represented Perth Scorchers, winning three Big Bash titles [Paul Kane/Getty Images]}

With one game remaining in his professional career, Marsh has scored 7,050 runs (two centuries, 57 half-centuries) at a strike rate of 128.53 in 215 T20s and enjoyed stints in the T20 Blast and a long association with Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) in the IPL as well as representing Perth Scorchers for the majority of his BBL career.

He will retire in at least sixth place in the Big Bash run-scoring charts and is one of only 10 men to score over 2,500 runs in the competition.

Marsh has scored a further 12,032 runs at 41.20 in 183 first-class appearances, over 8,000 of which came for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, and 7,158 runs at 44.45 in 177 List A outings.

For Australia, he featured in 38 Tests, 73 ODIs and 15 T20Is between 2008 and 2019, scoring over 5,000 runs.

^{Marsh lifted the Sheffield Shield with Western Australia [Paul Kane/Getty Images]}

^{Marsh represented Australia in all three formats, scoring over 5,000 runs [Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images]}

Marsh has featured five times for Melbourne Renegades this season, scoring 181 runs at a strike rate of 138.16. He is responsible for three of his side's six half-centuries, including a player of the match-winning 64 not out against Melbourne Stars in his penultimate appearance.

Paying tribute to Marsh, Renegades head coach, David Saker, said: "SOS [Marsh] is one of those blokes who's universally liked and admired by anyone who's ever played with or against him, domestically and internationally.

"If I could have any batter in Australia to help plot and chase down a total, it'd be SOS. He has raw power and he has the experience to wait for the right shot at the right time which is critical in T20 cricket."

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