'Dre Russ' eyes 'perfect' ending to decorated West Indies career – Cricket.com.au

Dual World Cup winner Andre Russell reflects on his proudest moment in international cricket
West Indies superstar Andre Russell says there’s no better way to bow out of international cricket than at his home ground against one of the world’s best teams.
While Russell will play on in franchise tournaments around the world, the Jamaican allrounder will retire from internationals after the second T20I against Australia at Sabina Park in Kingston, ending a decorated 15-year career for West Indies.
Australia is one of the 37-year-old’s favourite rivals in the T20 format – the two-time World Cup winner has scored more runs (257) at a higher average (51.40) and quicker strike rate (215.96) in his 12 matches against the Aussies than any other opponent across his 84-game T20I career.
Although Russell played one Test – his first international match in 2010 – the right-hander will be remembered as one of the most destructive allrounders in white-ball cricket, finishing his career with a better strike rate (130.22) than any batter to have faced more than 500 balls in one-day internationals.
He also collected 131 wickets in 140 games across both limited-overs formats.
“The first time I came to Sabina Park as a kid and then to actually walk on the grass and feel the atmosphere and look in the stands and know I’ve achieved so much out of cricket for the last couple of years,” reflected Russell ahead of his final few days in West Indies colours.
“I did my best in every chance I got representing West Indies.
“I think it’s the perfect ground and the perfect series against a good team like Australia, to end my international career.
“Seeing the post and seeing stuff going around on the internet, I get a bit emotional, but decision already made, and I think I’ve done well enough to actually say, yes, that’s it for me towards international cricket.”
Russell pointed to his performance in the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final against India as the proudest moment of his career.
Chasing 193 to beat the tournament hosts in Mumbai, Russell arrived at the crease with West Indies needing 77 off 41 balls and proceeded to slam an unbeaten 43 off 20, including four sixes, to get his side home with two balls to spare.
West Indies went on to beat England by four wickets with two balls remaining again in the final at Kolkata, the second of Russell’s T20 World Cup crowns after he was part of the XI that won the 2012 tournament in Sri Lanka.
“To bring the team home, me and Lendl Simmons (82 not out) and obviously the start we got from the other batters.
“Chasing 190-plus in that semi-final in India with a crowd supporting India only, that was already a bit of pressure, but the wicket was a very good wicket.
“The confidence that we had in the changing room and the batters that were left to come, it gave me the confidence and the freedom to go out and play the role that I did.
“Two World Cups, it’s just a different emotion.
“You sleep, you wake up and you realise you’ve only been sleeping for two hours but you feel well rested because you just want to see what’s going on on the internet, you want to see all of those memories and all of those good comments.
“Those are the two most important moments (for me) playing for West Indies.”

The five-match series kicks off a big eight months in the T20 format for both West Indies and Australia as they build towards next year’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, beginning in February.
Despite winning only two of their past 14 T20 matches dating back to October 15 last year, including losing their past two series 0-3 to England last month and Bangladesh last December, Russell believes West Indies had the talent to go all the way in the World Cup.
“We have a team in the Caribbean that can definitely, once we come out and play some good cricket on the day, we can beat any team in the world,” he said.
“Confidence is not the problem … we just need to get it right more often.
“Once we can have those days more often, then definitely we can start making a change and moving forward.
“These guys, they’ve been playing a lot of cricket and the experience they gain from the outside leagues, bring it back into international cricket.”
The West Indies-Australia series begins at Sabina Park on Sunday night local time (10am Monday AEST) with Russell’s international farewell at the same venue on Tuesday (10am Wednesday AEST).
The two teams then move to St Kitts for the final three T20Is where allrounder Matthew Forde will replace Russell in the squad.
First T20I: July 20, Kingston, Jamaica (July 21, 10am AEST)
Second T20I: July 22, Kingston, Jamaica (July 23, 10am AEST)
Third T20I: July 25, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 26, 9am AEST)
Fourth T20I: July 26, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 27, 9am AEST)
Fifth T20I: July 28, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 29, 9am AEST)
West Indies T20 squad: Shai Hope (c), Jewel Andrew, Jediah Blades, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde (St Kitts only), Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell (Kingston only), Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd
Australia’s T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa
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