Retired Dan Christian tears up after Brisbane Heat upset Sydney Sixers in BBL final
Australian veteran Dan Christian cried after playing his last professional cricket match.
The all-rounder announced midway through the Big Bash season that this campaign with the Sydney Sixers would be his last.
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Christian would have hoped for a fairy tale ending to his career by winning another BBL title, but that was not to be the case as the Brisbane Heat eliminated the Sixers from the BBL final.
In a low-scoring game, the Sixers went just 116 from 20 overs, which the Heat chased with 10 balls to spare.
The Sixers were favorites for the Grand Final but in the absence of Steve Smith, their top scorer was his replacement Daniel Hughes (23 from 24 balls).
Brisbane’s Michael Neser took two wickets and hit 48 from 32 balls to lead the Heat to a four-wicket victory and advance to Saturday night’s Grand Final against Perth Scorchers.
Speaking to NSW fast bowler Trent Copeland after his last game, Christian got emotional as he reflected on his career and retiring from cricket.
“I guess it’s still a little raw now that we lost that game – we were looking forward to playing as well as we can and winning this and going back and trying to get another chance at the Scorchers and trying to win this title,” said Christian on Channel 7.
“I’ve been thinking about retiring for the last two months or so. It was a very good race.
“The main thing is to be able to catch up with people and say I don’t have cricket.
“I will be able to reunite with my family and friends and attend weddings and birthdays, all those things that I have missed for the past 20 or so years.
“I guess I’ll have a few months now…or the rest of my life, really, to think about my career.”
The 39-year-old has long been one of Australia’s top T20 exports and has won a remarkable nine titles in various T20 competitions around the world.
During his career, Christian played 409 T20s, scoring almost 6000 carries and taking almost 300 wickets.
The Brisbane Heat take on the Perth Scorchers in the BBL Grand Final on Saturday at 7.30pm (AEDT).
Retired Dan Christian tears up after Brisbane Heat upset Sydney Sixers in BBL final
