London: Peeved over the national selectors' decision to ignore him for next month's Sharjah meet, former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell has announced his retirement from international cricket. "I made the decision to retire because the selectors gave me the impression that I was also surplus to requirements for the England tour (in May)," the 30-year old batsman was quoted as saying by the BBC Sport website. "I always thought that a batsman's best years are between 28 and 36. At 30 I was looking forwards to the best years of my international career. But the selectors forced my hand and that was obviously not ideal for me." Campbell, who was overlooked for the World Cup but later brought back in to the side to replace an injured Mark Vermeulen for the Super Six match against Kenya, was the fourth Zimbabwe player to retire since the mega event in South Africa. The other three were Andy Flower, Henry Olonga and Guy Whittal. Campbell, who made his international debut at the age of 19 at the 1992 World Cup, scored 2,858 runs from 60 Test matches at 27.21 with two centuries. In One-dayers, he made 5,185 runs in 188 games with seven hundreds at an average of 30.50. Campbell, considered a much better player than his average in both form of the game suggests, said that he was yet to decide about his future. "When one door closes another opens and I might be looking to ply my trade elsewhere. But I am going to take some time out first to consider my next move."

Tags: cricket, alistair campbell, retirement, international cricket, bbc sport website, mark vermeulen, super six, andy flower, henry olonga, guy whittal.