Stressed out: Luke Pomersbach retires from cricket due to depression

Twenty20 batsman Luke Pomersbach ended his professional cricket career indefinitely on Thursday to deal with depression. Pomersbach only played one Twenty20 international for Australia in 2007 but his hard-hitting exploits earned him contracts with the Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He has most recently been playing for the Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat. “We appreciate the difficulties and challenges that Luke faces with his illness,” Queensland Cricket chief Geoff Cockerill said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_1558855” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach. Reuters[/caption] “The most important thing is that Luke continues to receive the necessary treatment and has the best possible support available to him. “To this end, Queensland Cricket has put into place a number of measures to assist Luke to fund the additional medical and other expenses associated with his ongoing treatment and recovery.” Pomersbach, 29, had a history of off-field misdemeanours and said he appreciated the support he had been given by Queensland Cricket and his team-mates over the years. “I really appreciate all the help and support that I have received from Queensland Cricket over the past three years and especially over the past couple of months leading up to this difficult decision to leave professional cricket so that I can put all my efforts into getting better and making a full recovery,” he said in the statement. “In particular, I would sincerely like to thank Stuart Law and the coaching staff as well as my Bulls and Heat team-mates for all the things they have done for me during this difficult time.” AFP