Retiring From the Pitch

Former New Zealand opening batsman Dunedin-born Matthew Bell has announced his retirement from all forms of the game, after struggling with injuries over the past two seasons. “It’s a decision that’s been coming for a while now,” Bell said. “But it’s time for me to get on with the next phase of my life and to let some of the younger guys have the same chances that I’ve had. Retirement is a bit of an emotional thing but it was important to me to call time on it at the right time for the right reasons.” Bell represented Wellington at the first-class level in New Zealand for 14 seasons from 1997-98 and captained them for eight seasons. He scored 20 first-class centuries and is the only New Zealand batsman to twice score 1000 first-class runs in a domestic season and is the leading run-scorer for Wellington with 6565 runs.