😯😯JP Duminy has taken the decision to retire from Test Cricket😯😯

South Africa batsman JP Duminy was considering retiring from Test cricket in January, when he was dropped for the New Year's Test against England, before he was talked out of it by Ashwell Prince, who was a selector at the time. Duminy ended a run of patchy form by scoring 141 in the second innings to give South Africa a 300-plus lead over Australia in the ongoing Perth Test.

"When he was dropped in January, he was considering retiring from Test cricket," Prince told ESPNcricinfo in Perth. "He had the conversation with me because the convener of selectors was not at the Cape Town Test, so I had to go and take him the news that he won't be playing.

"At that time, he was at a real low point and he was being honest and giving his feelings. As a selector, and with him being an important player to South African cricket, you try and convince him to think about it. I'm sure when he thinks back about that conversation this afternoon or this evening, he will know how he was feeling then and with the feeling he is having now, he will be happy that he carried on."

Duminy admitted that at that time he lacked direction, especially in Tests. "There was indifferent feelings. I wasn't sure where I was going in terms of my career but I am very grateful to get another opportunity."
He had gone 12 innings without a hundred when he was dropped, and in that time he had only passed fifty once. Like his team-mates, he struggled in India and with South African cricket itself on the wane, had several reasons to walk away. "It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was but he was out of form," Prince said. "With the type of calendar that they have these days, he has got a young baby, a young family, all that might have played a role."

That was when Prince reminded Duminy, who had replaced him in the 2008 Perth Test and made a half-century in a famous victory, of the prestige of the longest format. "I was talking to him as a friend, rather than a selector. I was making him understand how important Test cricket is for a player. You can play hundreds of ODIs and T20 and make millions but when you are done playing, you always think about what you did in the Test-match arena," Prince said. "You can play fifty ODIs quickly and not remember anything. These type of performances, that's what the game is all about.

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