South Africa opener Petersen retires from internationals

CAPE TOWN, Jan 6 (Reuters) – - South African opener Alviro Petersen announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday immediately after the team’s eight-wicket win over the West Indies at Newlands.

(Reuters)

Petersen, 34, said he wanted “to move on with his career” and will play county cricket and for the Johannesburg-based Lions for the next three years.

Petersen played 36 tests from 2010, scoring 2,093 runs at an average of 34.88 with five centuries but has struggled for form recently.

“The last couple of months were really frustrating as I felt my form was there but I would like to have scored more runs,” he told a news conference.

Petersen, who also played for South Africa in limited-overs formats, managed just 86 runs in four innings in the three-test series against the West Indies.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ed Osmond; [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])