Cricket news: Fans pay tribute after Aussie star announces retirement after 12

Tributes are pouring in around the cricket world for veteran Aussie fast bowler Chris Tremain, who's been forced to call time on his 12-year career due to a rare health condition. The NSW-born Tremain represented Australia in four ODIs and won a host of domestic titles with Victoria, as well as a BBL trophy with the Melbourne Renegades.

But the NSW paceman has announced that he'll retire at the end of the current Sheffield Shield season with the Blues after struggling to come back from a rare neurological condition. Tremain was diagnosed with Parsonage-Turner Syndrome in 2024 after experiencing strange sensations in his right shoulder that would often involve sharp pain down his forearm.

"It's basically a virus that... attaches itself to the nerve and shuts the nerve down," Tremain told cricket.com.au about his condition last year. "It affects one in 100,000 people, and professional sportspeople even less."

The classy quick worked tirelessly for 18 months to try and make a comeback after playing Premier Cricket with UNSW and then with the NSW Second XI. The hard work looked to have paid off late last year when Tremain was selected in the NSW squad for the final Shield round before the Big Bash break.

Rare conditions wrecks Chris Tremain's comeback hopes

However, the paceman was overlooked in the Blues' XI and it sparked some brutally honest conversations. Tremain was told in no uncertain terms that NSW could not rely on him with the ball as they once did. But the veteran understood the call and harboured no ill feelings.

"I was 12th man, and later found out that the confidence in me being effective in that game was relatively low, and that if someone had gone down, they probably weren't going to play me anyway," he said. "Normally, that would be quite devastating feedback, however, when I got told that, I understood it – it was a no-brainer."

It was around that time Tremain informed Cricket NSW high-performance boss Greg Mail that he would be retiring at season's end. And after battling through more shoulder pain during a spell in January, Tremain knew it was the right call.

"Even up until that game, I thought we were close. That I could get there," Tremain said about his comeback dream. "But when that happened, it was almost like a 180 instant flick where I was like, 'OK, we're done'... I wasn't sad or disappointed or anything, because we'd given it everything – there was just nothing left to give by the end of it."

Tremain played four ODIs for Australia in 2016 and won four Shield titles and a One Day Cup during a superb six-season stint with Victoria. He claimed 209 wickets in 54 Shield games for the Vics and sits 17th on the all-time wicket-takers list for the competition with 319.

Tributes flow for Chris Tremain after retirement news

Fans have been quick to congratulate Tremain on a superb career after his retirement announcement. "Unlucky not to have played Test cricket. Excellent career though," one fan wrote. Another commented: "Well done on a tremendous career." While a third fan added: "Disappointing news, he deserved to play Test cricket for his outstanding Sheffield Shield performances."

The Victorian cricket team also paid tribute to Tremain after referring to the fast bowler as a "legend" of the state. Tremain cemented his cult status in Victoria after hitting a first-class century as a nightwatchman against WA in 2017.

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