With a press conference to be held in about 10 minutes, one can only presume he'll either announce his retirement effective immediately or for the end of the season.
Richardson's questioned whether he wants to continue playing in his newspaper columns, and speculated about retirement last season until the English series renewed his enthusiasm. It's important IMO to remember that playing cricket isn't some kind of military service, and at 33 he's perfectly entitled to move on to something new.
However there is a bit of a 'rat off a sinking ship' feel to this, with NZ's test team nowhere near ready for another high-profile loss. Richardson's class clown streak is fast leading him towards the career in the media, but goofing around on TV won't seem quite so amusing to me if NZ can't cobble together an opening partnership out of Papps, Jamie How, Sinclair or Fleming (the latter would require a backflip from Bracewell).
How (23 y.o.) has impressed CW posters like me and Tim before, and there's always been hints in his game (particularly his pull shot) that on international pitches his results will be more impressive. We were both disappointed by his 'A' tour of S. Africa, but now with 105 and 100* against Otago to start the domestic summer he seems to have vaulted himself right into contention.
Richardson's questioned whether he wants to continue playing in his newspaper columns, and speculated about retirement last season until the English series renewed his enthusiasm. It's important IMO to remember that playing cricket isn't some kind of military service, and at 33 he's perfectly entitled to move on to something new.
However there is a bit of a 'rat off a sinking ship' feel to this, with NZ's test team nowhere near ready for another high-profile loss. Richardson's class clown streak is fast leading him towards the career in the media, but goofing around on TV won't seem quite so amusing to me if NZ can't cobble together an opening partnership out of Papps, Jamie How, Sinclair or Fleming (the latter would require a backflip from Bracewell).
How (23 y.o.) has impressed CW posters like me and Tim before, and there's always been hints in his game (particularly his pull shot) that on international pitches his results will be more impressive. We were both disappointed by his 'A' tour of S. Africa, but now with 105 and 100* against Otago to start the domestic summer he seems to have vaulted himself right into contention.