Australian cricketer and member of the recent winning World Cup team, Paul Reiffel, today announced his retirement from all international cricket prompting withdrawal from the up coming tour of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Speaking in Melbourne Reiffel said that he had been considering his future since his return from England following the World Cup and had decided for a combination of reasons to retire from the international game.

"Since returning from the World Cup I've been thinking about my cricketing future and a number of things have lead to this decision," said Reiffel.

"My wife is about to give birth to our second child and I want to be here for this event. I also want to leave the game on top and the World Cup victory gives me the opportunity to do that.

"Finally, I know within myself that the time has come to leave international cricket.

"In my career I've achieved more than I would ever have thought possible.

"Two World Cup campaigns, Ashes tours, regaining the Frank Worrell trophy in the West Indies - I've been able to be part of some great Australian teams and have enjoyed every minute of my time at this level."

ACB Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed paid tribute to Reiffel's contribution to Australian cricket.

"Paul has been a terrific servant of Australian cricket," said Mr Speed.

"He has overcome several setbacks to be a key contributor in some of this country's great performances in both Test and One Day International cricket. For example, his performance with the ball during the West Indies tour in 1995 played a key role in Australia regaining the Frank Worrell Trophy.

"I want to thank him for the contribution he has made and wish him well in his on-going career with Victoria."

Over his career Reiffel played 35 Tests capturing 104 wickets at an average of 26.96 and made 955 runs in fifty innings at an average of 26.53. His best figures were 6/71 against England in 1993 at Birmingham and his highest score was 79 against South Africa in Melbourne in 1997.

In One Day Internationals, he played 92 games taking 106 wickets at a strike rate of 71.25 and turned into a useful lower order batsman averaging 13.97 in 57 innings. His best bowling figures were 4/13 against South Africa in Sydney in the summer of 1993/94 and his highest score was 58 also against South Africa in Port Elizabeth also in 1993/94.

His retirement opens the door for another player to join the list of 25 ACB contracted players and will also see another player replacing him in the 14 man One Day squad to tour Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe which will leave in August.

ACB Chairman of Selectors, Trevor Hohns and fellow selectors Andrew Hilditch and Allan Border are currently considering these decisions with a decision expected early next week.

© 1999 Australian Cricket Board