McMillan ends NZ career

New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan has retired from top-level cricket for health and personal reasons.

McMillan, 31, who made his debut in 1997, scored 3,116 runs in 55 Tests, including six centuries, and also scored 4,707 runs in 197 one-dayers.

He has been linked with the breakaway Twenty20 Indian Cricket League.

"The time is right for me to spend more time with my family, as well as look after my health, as I have had ongoing issues related to diabetes," he said.

McMillan finished with a respectable Test batting average of 38.46 but became regarded as a limited-overs player in the latter stages of his career.

A flamboyant strokeplayer, he was in and out of the New Zealand team and played his final Test in 2005, but he rediscovered his verve in one-day cricket in the build-up to the World Cup.

The Christchurch-born right-hander was instrumental in propelling New Zealand to a 3-0 whitewash over Australia earlier this year, clubbing a superb 117 in the final game.

A useful medium-pacer, McMillan also took 28 wickets in Tests and 49 in one-day internationals.

His Kiwi career finished on a high note with 163 runs at the recent World Twenty20, in which he finished his country's leading scorer.

"I feel that the past season has been one of the best of my cricket career and I am happy to be retiring on a really positive note," McMillan added.

"I will now spend time with my family before deciding what direction I will take with my future."

Source: BBC Sport