40-year old Mhamed Bennani calls it a day
Tangier Gazette
May 22, 2003
May 22, 2003
A pillar of Marrakesh Al-Fatah, and a 5-match Moroccan national — Mhamed Bennani has decided to call it time on his illustrious domestic career following Al-Fatah's 'disastrous' National T20 campaign. The 40-year old veteran all-rounder was hopeful of breaking back into the national side just in time for the Cricket World Cup, and while the Al-Fatah we saw this season were a huge improvement from their past self, Bennani's own performances were found lacking, especially in 50-over cricket.
Morocco were admitted into WCC at the twilight of Bennani's career, and while the Bennani the world saw was a shell of his former self, he was still good enough to break into the national side for 3 Test matches and 2 One-Day Internationals. Unfortunately for him, his weaknesses were exposed and exploited in those matches.
He averaged 7.00 with the bat in ODIs, and could only manage a solitary scalp. In Test cricket, his batting average improved to 22.67, and it was still underwhelming compared to the likes of Abderrahim Zniber and Zamen Ibn Al-Hasan. Apart from boasting subpar batting numbers, he also remained wicketless in red ball cricket.
With the emergence of Youssouf Berrada, now a permanent member of the national side for his wicket-keeping skills alone, Mhamed Bennani had very little hope of breaking back into the national side, and yet he still trusted himself to try for one last time by putting up undeniable performances in Al Botola and the Moroccan Cup. Heartbreakingly for him however, he failed to live up to his own standards from the past and found himself barely a permanent member of his own domestic side.
As age catches up with the Marrakesh stalwart, and all hope fades away of him donning national colours for Morocco once again, maybe even at the Cricket World Cup, Mhamed Bennani has decided to make the incredibly difficult decision of announcing his retirement from all forms of professional cricket, effective immediately.