game Aussie star announces retirement after 13 years

Cricket fans and teammates are paying tribute after Australian white-ball specialist AJ Tye announced his retirement from the Aussie game on Thursday night. The 39-year-old has signed a two-year deal with English county club Yorkshire to play in the T20 Vitality Blast, and won't be continuing his career in the BBL.

Tye revealed on Thursday night that he's signed as a 'local' player due to his British passport, which means his career in Australia is now over. The West Australian has followed Jake Lehmann and Sam Whiteman in signing with English clubs as local players, which makes them ineligible to play for Australia.

Tye moved to the Melbourne Renegades from the Perth Scorchers in the BBL this season, but hasn't seen a lot of playing time. "Having known that my opportunities were starting to dry up a little bit…it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Tye told Fox Cricket on Thursday night about moving to England.

"I tried to find one last year but nothing really sort of came about. To be able to have that opportunity to take my family over there, have them experience England, see a lot of our family - both my parents are English - so there’s a lot of family there. It's a good way for the family to know our little girls, so it made a lot of sense to me."

Tye played seven one-day internationals and 32 T20 internationals for Australia, and became highly-regarded for his variations in the shorter form of the game. He's played 119 games in the BBL in a career of 237 games in Australian cricket over 13 years, helping the Perth Scorchers win four titles.

Cricket world pays tribute after AJ Tye announcement

Jason Behrendorff, who played with Tye at both the Scorchers and Renegades, said on Thursday night: "Luckily he gave me a little heads-up before this, because to be honest I was in a little bit of shock as well. I've played so much cricket with AJ, we've taken a lot of wickets together, we spend a lot of time in the change rooms and off the field together, so it'll be very different without him, but I'm so thankful I got to play so much with him.

"He's obviously a very good cricketer, his stats speak for themselves. But he's one of the guys that you'd love to have in your change-room. That was one of the things when I got asked about 'AJ' potentially coming to the Renegades, I said he's an absolute jet of a bloke."

Fans joined Behrendorff in paying tribute to Tye on social media, with one writing: "What a fantastic contribution to the BBL competition both on and off the field, with your congenial nature and great sense of humour - hoping you stay connected to cricket and pass on your knowledge to the plethora of great young bowlers we've got coming through the Aussie system. THANKS AJ."

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