An emotional goodbye to cricket from David Willey. England ended their World Cup campaign on November 11 against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The whole tournament was disappointing for the team. They faced consecutive losses in the tournament. But they ended the tournament on a winning note. That was also a pleasing end for David Willey. In the last ODI match of his career, he was awarded the Player of the Match.
Willy’s Retirement:
David Willey is a talented and experienced bowler of the tournament. He shined in this World Cup by his excellence. But he took a bold decision over his career a few times ago. Willey is the only member who didn’t feature in England’s central contracts. After that, he decided to retire from International cricket. This English bowler made his debut in 2015. He is a remarkable player. He ended his career on high.
While announcing the retirement decision, Willey wrote on social media, “ I never wanted this day to come. From a young boy, I’ve only ever dreamed of playing cricket for England. So, with careful thought and consideration, it is with great regret that I feel the time has come for me to retire from all forms of international cricket at the end of the World Cup…”
Ending on High:
David Willey played his last match on the big stage. After playing the match against Pakistan, Willey retired from international cricket. In this match, he performed extremely well. He picked up 3 wickets in 56 runs. He picked up Abdullah Shafique in the very first over. After that, he took Fakhar Zaman and Agha Salman’s wicket. That performance earned the Player of the Match on his last day in international cricket.
In the post-match presentation, he opened up. He said, “ Tournament hasn’t gone to plan, disappointing on that note. It would have been nice to go on a real high. To perform and finish with 100 wickets is a nice way to finish. You only have to look around the dressing room. We have got a phenomenal group of players and massive talents, no doubt we have underperformed here which is disappointing. As a collective, we should have performed better.”
When he was asked whether not getting the contract helped him or not, he said, “ Yeah Keysy said hopefully you can prove me wrong. Maybe I have done over the last few games. For me personally, it’s not many opportunities you get to walk away from cricket on your terms and I wanted to really enjoy the last three games of cricket and play without looking over my shoulder and thinking one bad performance and I am out of the side.
He also recalled his memory of wearing the jersey for the very first time as a professional cricketer and the journey after that. He said, “ No, not at all. If I look back at my academy time I was never the best player. I have just found a way and my resilience to keep chipping away to be part of this group of white ball cricketers – I’m immensely proud of that. Very proud of every game. I have been fortunate enough to get a great support network around me to pick me up when I have been down. My wife, I am sure she will be watching back home no doubt. A massive thank you to her, she has picked me up many a time. Proud every time I have pulled on this shirt and the national anthem is pretty special. The World Cup win in Australia with family around was pretty special after the disappointment of missing in 2019. From there, finding my way back into the side – I didn’t actually play in the competition itself but the moment was very special. Every time you take a wicket is pretty special.
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