JOHANNESBURG, Feb 14: South Africa’s Jonty Rhodes said good-bye to his team mates, the World Cup and international cricket on Friday after confirming his retirement.

The 33-year-old, dropped from the South Africa squad on Thursday because of a broken hand, spoke to each team member after a net session in Johannesburg before walking away.

“I’m not a good watcher and I’d probably be more annoying to the guys if I hung around,” he said.

Rhodes was ruled out for at least the next three weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand while fielding against Kenya on Wednesday.

South Africa’s most capped One-day International and renowned as the best fielder in the world, he told a news conference earlier that there was the slimmest of chances he could be recalled if another player was injured later in the tournament.

“Unless something else happens to someone else down the line, then yes, this is it,” he said.

South Africa media manager Gerald de Kock, however, quashed that suggestion.

He said tournament rules prohibited injured players returning.

Rhodes was dropped after it was revealed his hand would take at least three weeks to heal, ruling him out of the first round of the tournament.

“It is not quite the script that I envisaged,” he said. “But I actually really see it as a blessing. When I left school in 1988, there wasn’t really a hope for me to play.

“I saw one of the newspaper headlines, it said ‘broken dream’, but for me to have played 245 One-day Internationals and participated in four World Cups, there’s nothing to be ungrateful for.

“It’s been a privilege to play for my country.”—Reuters