Former South Africa Women’s captain Mignon du Preez has announced retirement from ODI and Test format with immediate effect. She wants to concentrate solely on T20 cricket and also spend more time with family now.
Retirement of Mignon du Preez
South Africa are set to make a comeback in the Test format in June this year during the England tour. They had last played in the format in 2014 when Du Preez was the skipper of the side.
The 32-year-old made her international debut in 2007 and is retiring as the most capped South Africa Women’s player in the ODIs. She scored 3760 runs at an average of almost 33 with 18 fifties and two centuries to her name. In the only Test, she played back in 2014, Du Preez scored a brilliant century against India in Mysore.
Mignon du Preez scored her last fifty against India during the final league stage game of the recently concluded World Cup. It was also South Africa’s record chase in the ODI format.
About her Retirement
Speaking about her retirement, Du Preez stated that she was fortunate enough to play for her country all these years but is now looking forward to spending time with her family and starting her own family soon.
In the statement issued by Cricket South Africa, Preez said: “I’ve been wonderfully fortunate to play in four ICC ODI World Cups to date. These have been some of my most treasured memories in life. I would however love to prioritize time with my family and hopefully start a family of my own soon.”
The right time to focus on T20 cricket and retire from longer formats, says Mignon du Preez. She further felt that it was the right time to hand over the baton in the longer format. However, she will continue to feature in T20Is for South Africa.
She said: “I feel the time is right to announce my retirement from the longer format of the game and focus my attention on T20 cricket going forward. Thus, I decided to retire from ODI cricket after our recent World Cup in New Zealand.”
