New Zealand's Hamish Rutherford Announces Retirement From Professional Cricket

New Zealand and Otago opener Hamish Rutherford has announced his retirement from professional cricket and will play the last match of his cricketing career next week. He will play in Otago’s Super Smash clash against Northern Districts in Dunedin. Hamish Rutherford will end a career that lasted 16 years, starting in 2008, and in which he has scored 16,468 so far across formats.

Hamish Rutherford played 16 Tests for New Zealand as part of his 130 first-class games and scored a 171 on his debut against England in 2013. He made 7863 runs in first-class cricket, averaging 35.26 with 17 centuries to his name. Rutherford played only four ODIs but has a tally of 127 List A games in which he has scored 4326 runs with 13 centuries. Hamish Rutherford has also featured in 192 T20s including eight T20Is in which he has amassed 4279 runs at a strike rate of 141.50.

“It has been a privilege to play for Otago and be part of this iconic province,” he said in a statement. “While playing for New Zealand was always the dream, I’m grateful for the opportunities cricket has given me and my family. I’ve loved every minute of it. I appreciate all the support I have had from family and friends, fellow  players, coaches and supporters of the province.”

Hamish Rutherford will retire with the most No. of T20s played for Otago. He broke Neil Broom’s record earlier this month. Overall, he will retire having played the third most matches for Otago across formats, behind Broom (348) and Derek de Boorder (292). Talking about his career, Otago’s Chief executive talked about how his contribution to Otago cricket is immense and how he will be considered as one of Otago’s greats.

“Hamish will undoubtedly be considered one of Otago’s greats,” Otago Cricket chief executive Mike Coggan said. “I have seen him play innings that very few other cricketers are capable of. He has been an entertainer at the top of the innings, and he has my utmost respect as a player and person. His contribution to Otago Cricket has been immense.”

Hamish Rutherford has played numerous memorable innings for Otago and one of them was greatly reminded by Mike Coggan which was in 2020 when he smashed 155 off 100 deliveries against Central Districts. He is one of the few Kiwi players to score a hundred on his Test debut and is one of the greatest domestic players of all time. Hamish Rutherford will be honored by the Otago Cricket after his last game on January 23.

Hamish Rutherford played his last international match against Sri Lanka in 2019. It was a T20 match and he last appeared for New Zealand in Test cricket in 2015 against the same opponents at the Basin Reserve. He has played only four ODIs for New Zealand and has never tasted any success in the format. In 29 innings of his Test career, he scored 755 runs at an average of 26.96 and smashed one century and a half-century.