Sinner leads Italy to Davis Cup semifinals; Australia edges past USA
Defending champions Italy advanced to the Davis Cup semifinals on Thursday after defeating Argentina 2-1, with world No 1 Jannik Sinner winning the singles and doubles match.
The star Australian player Alex Blackwell, who is also the most capped female player, on Monday (19 Feb) announced retirement from International and state cricket.
However, she would continue playing in the Women’s Big Bash. In Big Bash, Alex has been leading Sydney Thunder since the beginning of the tournament.
Alex Blackwell had played 251 games (in all format Test, ODI, T20Is). Alex had made her debut in One Day International (ODI) in 2003.
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In her 15-year career, Blackwell scored 5,250 runs — 3,492 in ODIs, 1,314 in T20Is and 444 in Tests. Blackwell is among the Australian batters who have more than 1,000 T20I runs, she had also led Australian national women cricket team in winning World T20 title in 2010. Alex was also part of the Aussie squad when they won the World Cup in 2005 and 2013.
After 12 Tests, 144 ODIs and 95 T20Is, @SouthernStars‘ most capped player, @AlexBlackwell2, has announced her retirement from international cricket.https://t.co/Xot63NtAot pic.twitter.com/s4o7TUlWkR
— ICC (@ICC) February 19, 2018
While talking about Alex’s journey, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said, “Alex has been a wonderful servant to Australian Cricket, and a tremendous leader both at the national and international level, and we congratulate her on an outstanding career that has spanned more than 16 years.”
“She was a talented cricketer – a fierce competitor, hard-working and far more often than not, a winner – Alex played an instrumental role in the dominance of both the Australian and New South Wales teams over the last decade,” he added.
“Having reinvented herself in the shorter formats of the game in more recent years, Alex leaves the game as Australia’s most capped female player, having become the first Australian woman to play 200 games for her country, and sitting second and third in terms of runs scored in the T20 and ODI formats for Australia.”
Alex Blackwell will play her last match against Western Australia next Saturday. The retirement of Blackwell from international and state cricket means the end of an era in Australian women’s cricket.
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