Matt Kelly has called time on his professional career after claiming six titles in Australian domestic cricket
Western Australia and Perth Scorchers fast bowler Matt Kelly has retired from top level cricket, pulling the curtain down on decorated a 10-year career.
The 31-year-old’s announcement comes after recent struggles with injury, closing a chapter that produced 54 Sheffield Shield appearances and 29 One-Day Cup matches for WA, alongside 39 games for the Scorchers.
Matt Kelly career titles
One-Day Cup: 3 (WA: 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23)
Sheffield Shield: 2 (WA: 2021-22, 2022-23)
BBL: 1 (Perth Scorchers: BBL|12)
Born in Durban, South Africa before moving to Perth as a four-year-old, Kelly reflected on his journey through Australian cricket in a statement released by WA Cricket.
“Walking through the WACA Ground gates for the first time, I could never imagine where, or how far, the game would take me,” Kelly said.
“It quickly became my favourite place to be, and like so many fortunate enough to spend time there, it became a home away from home, and one that I loved.”
Standing at 193cm tall, the towering quick helped his club side Claremont-Nedlands to claim victory in WA’s Premier Cricket T20 competition in 2014-15, leading to a WA rookie contract ahead of the 2016-17 season.
Across his decade long career, Kelly claimed six domestic titles including three One-Day Cups, two Shield triumphs and one Big Bash trophy.
The pace bowler played in his first title-winning WA team during the 2019-20 One-Day Cup and was also a member of championship teams in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
He featured in WA’s side that broke a 23-year Shield drought in 2021-22 and was key member of the squad’s successful title defence in the 2022-23 season with a dominant 35-wicket campaign at an average of just 15.77, including a match-winning spell of 4-41 in the second innings of that season’s final against Victoria.
In the same domestic season Kelly claimed his third and final One-Day Cup trophy as well as playing a significant role in the Scorchers’ famous BBL|12 final victory over Brisbane Heat.
Determined to make his mark after missing the final in Perth’s BBL|11 triumph, Kelly took the crucial wickets of Max Bryant and Michael Neser to return figures of 2-37 as the Scorchers won back-to-back BBL titles for the second time in their history.
Since his BBL|07 debut alongside the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Tim Bresnan, Kelly has taken 55 wickets in six seasons, with 25 of those scalps coming in championship-winning campaigns (BBL|11 and BBL|12).
The Scorchers speedster finishes his career in fifth on the club’s all-time BBL wickets tally, behind only Andrew Tye (159), Jason Behrendorff (148), Jhye Richardson (113) and Ashton Agar (73).
Kelly ends his time in the Shield with 172 wickets for WA. The retiring paceman took 21 wickets at an average of 19.33 in four matches last season, including two five-wicket hauls against NSW (5-43) and Tasmania (6-49).
As a three-time recipient of the Excalibur Award, given to the WA men’s player who best shows team values and positive contributions to squad culture throughout a domestic season, WA’s high performance boss Kade Harvey praised Kelly for his commitment to the state’s cricket program.
“Across the past 10 seasons, Matt has been an outstanding contributor on and off the field,” Harvey said.
“Matt has delivered many exceptional performances for both WA and Perth Scorchers and has played an integral role in the recent run of success across all formats.
“Most importantly, Matt embodies all the traits we expect of our players and is held in the highest regard by all staff and players. We wish Matt all the very best in his future endeavours and he will always be welcome back at the WACA Ground.”
