Haddin: I’d lost my hunger

Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin says his decision to retire was easy, and that he lost the ‘hunger’ for the game during the Ashes Test series.

Haddin confirmed his retirement on Wednesday, having left the tour to England to be with his family as his daughter required surgery back in Sydney. He had withdrawn from the second Test at Lord’s, and never got his place back.
But Haddin says he knew his career was over when he decided to step back, and has no regrets about it as he no longer felt the desire to play, or to fight to get his place back from Peter Nevill.

Haddin said: “I came to the realization after Lord’s. I’ve had a privileged run, but I lost the hunger on the Ashes Tour. It was an easy decision to retire.
“It was all about making myself the best cricketer I could be every time I walked out on the training paddock – I probably lost that hunger from there (Lord’s).”

Haddin’s retirement means five veteran players have stepped down in the past two or three months, with Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson also hanging up their spikes.
But Haddin is confident the new skipper, Steve Smith, will have plenty to work with: “It’s an exciting time; I think we can cover all the retirements.

“We’ve got a great leader in Steve Smith and the best thing about Steve at the moment is he’s on top of his game, so he’s going to be a great leader for Australia for a long time.”