Photo: AFP
New Delhi: South Africa pacer Morne Morkel on Friday surprised everyone by stating that his career as a Proteas is "nearly finished" and he would decide his future after the completion of the England Test series.
Morkel who has featured for the Proteas in 76 tests and 112 ODI’s acknowledged that his time with the Proteas is coming to a close, but insists that he is still mentally and physically strong to play both Tests and ODIs until the 2019 World Cup.
"I'm not starting my career. My career is nearly finished," said the 32 year old.
"It's not rocket science that they probably want to start looking, in white-ball cricket, at the 2019 World Cup.”
Morkel further added, "Am I going to part of those plans? If I can be around to help the younger guys find their feet, so be it. I'll do that. For me the main focus is this tour and then we'll go back and see how we go."
In five Test matches this year, Morkel has picked up 20 wickets with an average of 27.40.
In the ongoing test series against England he has 9 wickets to his name in first two of the 4 matches.
Morkel said he will discuss his future plans with Cricket South Africa (CSA), alongside teammate AB de Villiers, when they return to South Africa at the end of August.
South Africa will host India in a fully fledged series later this year with 4 tests, 5 ODI’s and 3 T20’s. With Morkel’s departure, it is clear that the Proteas have a job at their hands.