Dan Christian is retiring from cricket at the age of 39. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club legend Dan Christian has announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 39.

The Australian, who played his final T20 Blast campaign for the Notts Outlaws in 2022, released a statement on Friday, 20 January to say he would retire at the end of the current Big Bash campaign.

Christian has been competing with the Sydney Sixers in the tournament, and with the Sixers currently in second place in the BBL table having completed their final regular season fixture against the Hobart Hurricanes, he has just two matches left of his professional career.

In a statement released on his Twitter, Christian said: “Yesterday at training I told my Sydney Sixers teammates that I’ll be retiring from playing at the end of the BBL season. Sydney Smash tonight, followed by our last round game against the Hurricanes, and then the finals.

“Hopefully we can go all the way again this season, but regardless, it’s been a great run. I’ve achieved things and made some memories that I could have only dreamt of as a kid.

“What I didn’t expect to learn as a kid though, if how many people I was going to come in contact with that have had an influence on my career and ended up becoming lifelong friends.

“I’m looking forward to now having the time to catch up with you all and not having to use the excuse: ‘Sorry, I’ve got cricket.’

“I’ll reserve some thank you’s for the after my last game (whenever that may be), but in the meantime, go the Sixers!”

Having initially signed for Nottinghamshire on a red-ball contact in 2015, Narrandera-born all-rounder Christian ended up playing eight seasons at Trent Bridge and became arguably the club’s most important white-ball figure ever.

His trophy cabinet is certainly unrivalled, having led the Outlaws to two T20 Blast titles in 2017 and 2020, which are part of a haul of nine T20 trophies won across the globe.

That includes winning the Big Bash with three different sides; Brisbane Heat, Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers.

Christian has also represented Australia 23 times in the twenty-over format – including being part of the 2010 T20 World Cup squad which finished as runners-up to England – and 20 times in One Day Internationals.

Ever an approachable and affable figure at Trent Bridge, Christian made himself a favourite through his heroic performances with both bat and ball.

That included man-of-the-match performances in both the semi-final and final of the 2020 Blast, seeing the Outlaws to a title that confirmed them as one of the foremost powers of limited-overs cricket in England.

Those games ended up being behind closed doors during the Covid pandemic, but Notts fans could watch their skipper’s heroics from home as he put Lancashire and Surrey to the sword on Finals Day.

In the rain-reduced semi-final against Lightning, he played an outstanding innings of 30 from 13 balls – including four sixes – to chase down the target of 95 runs.

That was followed up with a destructive performance with bat and ball against Surrey, starting with a magic 4-23 to steal the southern side’s thunder and then seeing Outlaws over the line with an innings of 21 not out from 11 balls.

Christian could yet add further silverware before his career is up, with the Sixers through to the knockout stages of the BBL, where they will face Perth Scorchers in the qualifier game.

Depending on the result of that match, they either go directly into the Final or have to face a challenger game against a lower-placed qualifier.

The Sixers have traded titles with the Scorchers in the last two seasons, losing out last year but winning in 2021, while they also won the 2020 title against the Melbourne Stars.

They will look to go all the way this season, and with the added motivation of finishing off Christian’s career in style, will be widely fancied for the title.