New Zealand leg-spinner Todd Astle has announced his retirement from Test Cricket in order to focus on limited-overs cricket. The spinner was expected to play in the upcoming unofficial Tests against India A. The 33-year old represented the national team in five tests after making his debut in 2012 against Sri Lanka. His final appearance in whites came against Australia in Sydney earlier this month. Astle finished his Test career with 7 wickets from 5 games scoring 98 runs. Astle revealed that he found the demands of preparing for the red-ball format a challenge. 

“Playing Test cricket was always the dream and I’m so honoured to have represented my country and province in the longest form of the game,” Todd Astle said.“Red-ball cricket is the pinnacle, but also requires a huge amount of time and effort. As I’ve got to the back end of my career I’ve found it harder to maintain the level of commitment required to be fully invested in this version of the game,” he added.New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen congratulated Todd on his long-form career.“To prepare and play four-day cricket at such a level for the best part of 15 seasons is a credit to him and his perseverance,” said Larsen. “He wants to get the most out of himself at this stage of his career and spend more time with his family, and those are admirable reasons,” he said.