Pretend you are in your ideal job, and one day, you are forced to leave it for some reason. The end of a career might be very painful.
The same feeling was experienced by many cricketers when they had to retire prematurely. These cricket players demonstrated their skills, but unfortunately, circumstances that were beyond their control made them retire in a less-than-glamorous way.
Let us now focus on the cricketers who were forced to end their careers in a sad manner.
Players Who had Sad Endings to their Career
| S.No | Player | Country | Role | Career Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Will Pucovski | Australia | Batsman | 2021 (1 Test) |
| 2 | Henry Olonga | Zimbabwe | Fast Bowler | 1995–2003 |
| 3 | Craig Kieswetter | England (born in South Africa) | Wicketkeeper-Batsman | 2010–2014 |
| 4 | Mark Boucher | South Africa | Wicketkeeper-Batsman | 1997–2012 |
| 5 | James Taylor | England | Right-handed Batsman | 2011–2016 |
| 6 | Nathan Bracken | Australia | Left-arm Fast Bowler | 2001–2009 (AUS), Retired 2011 |
6. Nathan Bracken (Australia)
Nathan Bracken was a lanky left-arm fast bowler who had the rare ability to swing the ball both ways. He was a member of the Australian team from 2001 to 2009.
The management of the team was considering him as a Test player, but he had more success in limited overs matches. He picked up 174 wickets in 116 ODIs and was part of the Test and T20 teams, however without much significant impact in the latter.
In 2008, Bracken was the top bowler in ODIs and was trying to establish his position. However, when he was at the height of his career, he suffered a major knee injury which put him out of the game for a long time.
Even after the surgery, he was not able to regain his former self and finally retired in 2011.
5. James Taylor (England)
His fellow players believed a 5 feet 6 inches man would be no match against the top bowlers. But James Taylor proved the opposite by his performances in international cricket.
The right-handed batsman quietly did his job in the county and was consequently picked for the national side. Taylor represented England for the first time in 2011, but he was not given a second chance.
After performing extraordinarily in the One-Day Cup in 2013 and 2014, Taylor’s first return to the ODI squad was in late 2014, followed by the Test re-call in late 2015. And just as he was about to solidify his spot with continuous good performances, the tragedy of unfortunate nature struck.
In April 2016, Taylor was found to have a heart condition called ‘Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy’, which resulted in the early end of his career.
4. Mark Boucher (South Africa)
As one of the greatest wicketkeepers in cricket history, Mark Boucher had a very painful end to his career after a remarkable profession. He played for his birth country South Africa in international cricket with the safest hands behind the stumps.
Boucher is still the holder of the record for the most wicketkeeping dismissals in all formats combined, with 998. He would have likely had more than 1000 dismissals but for a sad incident on the ground that left him two short.
In July 2012, South Africa was playing a warm-up match against Somerset before their English tour when the accident happened. The last umpire’s decision was to award a run-off on the 46th over of Somerset’s innings when a googly bowled by Imran Tahir dislodged the bail from the stumps, which hit Boucher in the left eye.
The keeper instantly exited the field with an eye that was bleeding and had a surgical procedure. It was a serious injury that harmed Boucher’s eyeball and restricted his vision.
3. Craig Kieswetter (England)
Another wicketkeeper of South African descent on this list, although he represented England on the international scene. Craig Kieswetter was an aggressive keeper-batter for England in limited-overs cricket.
Kieswetter first appeared on the cricket stage as an under-19 player for South Africa but subsequently, became part of England’s senior team. His significant role in the 2010 T20 World Cup is one of the highlights of his cricket career, where his 63 runs in the final match helped England secure their first T20 World Cup title.
However, Kieswetter’s performance started to decline in 2013 leading to his exclusion from the England squad. On top of that, the wicketkeeper-batsman hit a severe setback during batting in the County Championship 2014.
A bouncer from David Willey passed through the grill and visor of the helmet worn by Kieswetter, causing a break in the nose and a fracture in the cheekbone. The surgery was done, and he was eyeing his return in 2015. But the injury turned out to be the end of his career that forced him to retire.
2. Henry Olonga (Zimbabwe)
Cricket lovers of the late 90s and early 2000s surely witnessed Henry Olonga in full swing bowling for Zimbabwe. He was Zimbabwe’s first black cricketer who got an opportunity to play in the international arena.
Olonga was a regular player in the Zimbabwe national team starting from 1998 and was a part of the squad for the 2003 World Cup, too. But the 2003 World Cup ironically brought his career to an end.
During the tournament, Olonga, together with Andy Flower, protested against the regime of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, which led to the restriction of democratic activities in the country. Olonga expressed his protest by wearing a black armband, which led to the issuance of an arrest warrant against him by the Zimbabwean government, forcing him to leave not only his homeland but also cricket.
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1. Will Pucovski (Australia)
Will Pucovski is one of the newest cricketers whose careers on the field ended up in an unfortunate way. He was once considered a batting prodigy and a future Australian star, but fortune was not on his side.
His first-class domestic cricket performances lit up the stage and that kept him just a step away from the Australian team call-up.
However, at the same time, he was facing mental health issues and had to endure concussions on the field several times. He somehow managed to put all that aside and made his Test debut against India in 2021, scoring 62 runs in his first innings.
However, that match turned out to be Pucovski’s one and only international appearance, as he hurt his shoulder during the match, which kept him off the rest of the series.
Pucovski went through the recovery process, but the way back to cricket was a hard one as he kept getting concussions one after the other. This led to the intervention of the authorities and, in August 2024, a medical panel advised him to quit professional-level cricket.
