South African batsman Mignon du Preez has announced her retirement from international cricket to focus on shorter domestic formats and spending more time with her family.
The 33-year-old made her Proteas debut in 2007 and has represented her country in 154 One-Day Opens and 114 T20s.
She also played a test match, against India in 2014, in which she scored a century.
“It’s never an easy decision to walk away from something you love as much as I love cricket,” she said.
“But I know in my heart that the time has come for me to announce my retirement from all forms of international cricket.
“I will continue to play the shorter format of the game in the global leagues until I have the chance to become a mom and start my own family.”
She scored 3,760 runs in the ODIs at an average of 32.98 and an additional 1,805 runs at 20.98 in the T20 internationals.
Du Preez is under contract with the Hobart Hurricanes in Australia’s Big Bash League and the Trent Rockets in England’s The Hundred competition.
The Pretoria-born right-hander made her ODI debut in 2007 and established herself as a reliable top-notch batsman before being named captain in 2011.
She went on to lead the team in 46 ODIs, 50 T20Is and her only Test appearance.
Under her leadership, South Africa reached their first T20 Women’s Worlds semi-final in 2014 and secured their first ODI series victories in India and Bangladesh.
Du Preez left the captaincy in 2016 to focus on her batting and retired from longer forms of domestic cricket earlier this year.
“I will definitely miss the locker room chats, the off-pitch friendships from around the world, the travels and learning about different cultures,” she added.
“My cricket journey has been nothing short of a crazy roller coaster ride with all the ups and downs but, oh my god, it was one hell of a ride and I wouldn’t change it for the world. “
