Australian cricketer Aiden Blizzard calls time on 12-year domestic career citing commitment to family

On Wednesday, Australian cricketer Aiden Blizzard called it a day on his 12-year domestic career, according to a Cricket Australia release. The 33-year-old began his cricketing career playing first-class cricket with Victoria before going on to play for South Australia and Tasmania. However, Blizzard’s clout in the cricketing world grew with his exploits in the shortest format of the game. Blizzard, a mainstay in Australia’s Big Bash League, also plied his wares for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in the 2011 season, where he opened alongside Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar. He was also part of the successful Mumbai team that won the Champions League Twenty20 in the same year. [caption id=“attachment_4472343” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Aiden Blizzard. Image courtesy: Twitter @ThunderBBL[/caption] The left-hander found his niche in BBL, where he was a part of the Hobart Hurricanes in the first three seasons before making the move to his present franchise, Sydney Thunder. Winning the league in his second season with the Thunders, Blizzard finishes as the fifth-highest run scorer for the Sydney team with 390 runs in 21 matches. Announcing his retirement, Blizzard, who feels winning the BBL title with Thunders in the 2015-16 season was the highlight of his career with the franchise, thanked the fans who supported the team in trying times. “The franchise has come a long way, we’ll always be judged on the field but the opportunity to change the culture and engage the fans is something I’m really proud to have been involved with,” said Blizzard. Citing familial responsibilities as the reason for deciding to call it quits on a successful domestic career, Blizzard said that out of his 15 years of playing cricket, he spent 10 years on the road. Having recently moved to Melbourne with wife Jess and son Eden, Blizzard is looking forward to supporting his wife’s talent management business and complete his MBA. “I gave cricket a good crack and I loved it, but now it’s time to be a family man and look for opportunities outside of playing professionally. I’m thankful to have played cricket and would love to contribute to Australian cricket moving forward,” said Blizzard. The dynamic left-hander, who never had the opportunity to represent Australia at the international level, finishes his domestic career having played 98 T20 games at a career strike rate of 132.57.