Sydney: Tearaway paceman Shaun Tait, who bowled one of the fastest balls ever recorded in Test cricket for Australia against England in 2010, has retired from the sport aged 34 because of an elbow injury.
Tait, who bowled with an unusual slinging action, represented Australia in all three formats, playing three Tests, 35 ODIs and 21 Twenty20 internationals.
In 2010, during a Test at Lord's, Tait bowled a delivery measured at 161.1 kmh (100.1 mph) which was the equal second-fastest recorded delivery of all time, along with another from compatriot Brett Lee. Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar has the record at 161.4 kmh (100.3 mph).
Tait played for South Australia state and through a 15-year career also played for professional teams in England, India, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
"I honestly wanted to play a couple more years, whether it was over in the UK or here," Tait told the Cricket Australia website. "The elbow has pretty much gone off a cliff now.
"It's done and dusted. I'm 34 years old and I suppose when you're not contributing on the field as much as you'd like to, it's time to finish up.
"Pretty much getting left out of the side or not being able to play because of my elbow, either way there's no point going on with it. I knew it was going to be difficult getting older to compete with the young blokes."
Tait made his test debut against England during the 2005 Ashes series. He was most effective in one-day internationals, taking 62 wickets at an average of 23.56.
