Lendl Simmons, a seasoned West Indies opener, made his international cricket retirement announcement on Monday (July 18). Denesh Ramdin, a former teammate of Simmons, opted to hang up his boots for West Indies on the same day as Simmons’ declaration.
In a one-off ODI game against Pakistan in December 2006, Simmons made his West Indies debut. Simmons played the format, scoring two century despite getting caught for a duck on his debut. In his brief eight-match Test career, he was never able to surpass 50, but T20 cricket was where he had the greatest effect.
In both 2012 and 2016, Simmons participated in the West Indies’ successful T20 World Cup campaigns. He scored a superb 82 in the semifinal against India in 2016 to assist West Indies defeat the home team. Simmons was given the chance to play for West Indies again in their championship defence in 2021 as the highest rungetter in the CPL, but his final stint was not as spectacular as he hit only 16 off 35 balls in his team’s loss against South Africa. Simmons ended up scoring 3763 runs in 144 games across different formats for international cricket.
According to Cricbuzz, while announcing his decision to retire on social media, Simmons also confirmed that he will continue playing franchise cricket.
“When I wore the Maroon Colours of the West Indies Cricket for the first time on debut in ODIs on December 7th, 2006, little did I know that my international career would have lasted 16 years but my passion and love for the sport fuelled me every day,” Simmons said on Twitter.
“I’m closing this chapter of International cricket having played 144 matches and scoring 3763 runs from all formats. I want to thank the West Indies Cricket Team for the opportunities, and I wish the new crop of WI players all the best and to keep on believing in yourselves and your abilities.”
