Western Australia and Perth Scorchers' 31-year-old pacer Matthew Kelly has announced his retirement after his battle with injuries. The South Africa-born Kelly moved to Perth as a four-year-old. The six feet, three inches tall pacer paid an emotional tribute to WACA ground, Perth, in his retirement statement.
"Walking through the WACA Ground gates for the first time, I could never imagine where, or how far, the game would take me," Kelly said. "It quickly became my favourite place to be, and like so many fortunate enough to spend time there, it became a home away from home, and one that I loved.”
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Kelly thanked his teammates, for helping him through challenges. Western Australia's general manager Kade Harvey lauded Kelly for what he brough to the table in past decade.
Kelly’s decorated career
Kelly made his first class and List A cricket debut for Western Australia in 2017. Soon, he was picked up by Perth Scorchers and made his debut early in 2018.
He was part of Western Australian squad that won the One-Day Cup in 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He won the Sheffield Shield with them in 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He was exceptional in the 2022-23 Sheffield Shield final, taking six wickets against Victoria. He averaged just under 16 that season with 35 wickets.
He also won the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-23 with Perth Scorchers. In the final against Adelaide Strikers, he got the wickets of Max Bryant and Michael Neser. He accounted for 11 wickets from eight games in the season at 19 apiece.
KKR picked Kelly but never handed IPL debut
Kelly was often lauded by the greats like Mark Waugh who said that he 'has the best yorker' in the BBL. He was picked as an injury replacement for South Africa pacer Anrich Nortje by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He never got to make his IPL deut.
Kelly’s career in numbers
Kelly retires with 180 wickets in first-class cricket, averaging 27.43. He has eight fifers in his career. He made useful contributions with the bat down the order, scoring 968 runs from 78 innings, including an 89-run knock. He played just 29 List A games, bagging 34 wickets. He also featured in 42 T20s, claiming 60 wickets at an average of 20.85. He has three four-fers in the format. Five of those wickets came for Northamptonshire in his short T20 Blast since 2022.