John Hastings retires over fears of 'fatal bleed on the field'

Former Australian bowler John Hastings has retired from all cricket, citing the risks posed by a bleeding lung condition that has confounded doctors.

The 33-year-old, whose final international was a one-day match against New Zealand in 2017, stopped playing last month.

He revealed that he was coughing up blood when bowling in domestic cricket.

Hastings told Fairfax Media that doctors were unable to guarantee he would not have a fatal bleed when playing, forcing his retirement.

“There was just a lot of grey area surrounding long-term health, whether it was causing any damage, and if there was any potential to have a fatal bleed on the field,” he said.

“They just really couldn’t say yes or no. And I wasn’t happy with that.

“It was a pretty tough little period, the last five or six months, but I’ve come to terms with it now, and I’m pretty comfortable with where it’s all at.”

Despite coughing up blood while bowling, Hastings is able to exercise in the gym and even take part in boxing without incident.

He played one Test, 29 ODIs and nine Twenty20 internationals for Australia.

He attended Australia’s ODI defeat to South Africa in Tasmania over the weekend, receiving warm hugs from a number of players.

Batting hopefuls to battle Test attack in Shield showdown

Australia’s Test pace cartel will kick off their red-ball preparations for this summer’s four Test series against India in NSW’s Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland this weekend.

Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been named to make their long-form returns in the Manuka Oval clash in Canberra alongside Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon as part of a full-strength attack.

Both struck down by back injuries over the winter, Hazlewood and Cummins will play their first elite red-ball cricket since last summer in this weekend’s clash at Manuka Oval.

Starc also had his injury concerns over the off-season, but played in Australia’s Test series loss against Pakistan last month before being rejoined by Hazlewood and Cummins in the one-day series against South Africa.

Lyon has already played one Shield game for NSW this summer, claiming four wickets in last week’s rain-affected draw with Tasmania.

It will also mark just the second time the four have all played together in Shield cricket, after Starc claimed two hat-tricks in their one game at the start of last season against Western Australia.

They’ll face a Queensland side that will likely include Test aspirants Matt Renshaw, Joe Burns and Marnus Labuschagne when the match begins Friday.

with agencies