Mignon du Preez: South Africa batter retires from international cricket

South Africa batter Mignon du Preez has announced her retirement from international cricket to concentrate on shorter domestic formats and spend more time with her family.

The 33-year-old made her Proteas debut in 2007 and represented her country in 154 one-day Internationals and 114 T20s.

She also played one Test match, against India in 2014, in which she scored a century.

"It's never an easy decision to step away from something you love as much as I love cricket," she said.

"But I know in my heart that the time is right for me to announce my retirement from all forms of international cricket.

"I will still continue to play the shorter format of the game in global leagues until I am blessed to become a mum and start a family of my own."

She scored 3,760 runs in ODIs at an average of 32.98 and a further 1,805 runs at 20.98 in T20 internationals.

Du Preez is contracted to the Hobart Hurricanes in Australia's Big Bash League and the Trent Rockets in The Hundred competition in England.

The Pretoria-born right-hander made her ODI debut in 2007 and established herself as a reliable top-order batter before she was made captain in 2011.

She went on to lead the side in 46 ODIs, 50 T20Is and her sole Test appearance.

Under her leadership, South Africa reached their first Women's World T20 semi-final in 2014 and achieved their first ODI series wins in India and Bangladesh.

Du Preez relinquished the captaincy in 2016 to concentrate on her batting and retired from longer forms of domestic cricket earlier this year.

"I will definitely miss the changing-room chats, the off-field friendships from all around the globe, travelling and learning about different cultures," she added.

"My cricketing journey has been nothing short of a crazy rollercoaster ride with all the ups and downs, but, oh boy, it was one hell of a ride and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world."

This article originally appeared on BBC Sport

Photo: Getty Images