A career that could have been so much better
By Richard Boock
From the New Zealand Herald, May 3, 2002

Dion Nash felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders yesterday after calling an end to one of the most injury-plagued careers on record.

The influential all-rounder announced his retirement from international cricket following problems with his troublesome hip, the injury that ended his Tri-Series campaign in Australia last summer.

Nash, considered one of the country's most intense competitors over the past decade, was also one of the unluckiest in terms of injury, and ended up missing more test matches (45) than he played (32).

He said yesterday that a scan of his hip had revealed stress-related problems with the bone and helped to persuade him that the time was right to move in a different direction.

"It's not just that this is one injury too many," he said. "It's also the stage I'm at in my life. My motivation, self-discipline and dedication to fight back from injury have been waning, and I think it's time to direct my energies elsewhere."

Nash is the second New Zealand player with a decade of experience to retire in the past month, following on the heels of Adam Parore's decision at the end of the series against England.

Nash plans to travel overseas this year with fiancee Bernice Mene, then return to New Zealand to start a post-graduate diploma in mentoring, involving a one-year correspondence course through Melbourne University.

The 30-year-old is also interested in moving into the business world, but said he was deliberately leaving his options open because he wanted to better assess the opportunities and familiarise himself with the industry.

As far as cricket is concerned, the former national captain and first New Zealander to score 50 and take 10 wickets at Lord's (in 1994) said he would continue his involvement with the players' association he helped to set up, and he might be interested in coaching - though only after a five or 10-year break.

"It was a surreal experience when I got the results of the scan because I knew that was it - that I didn't want to play any more," he said.

"But I do feel relief. It's all I've done since I was 13 or 14, and you tend to hold on to something like that for dear life.

"To let go is a huge relief and it's an exciting time for me. Poignant and uncertain perhaps, but very exciting. It's like, 'Oh thank God. I don't have to worry about it any more'."

Nash also played 81 one-day internationals and regards the two-run loss to South Africa at Brisbane in the 1997-98 Tri-Series as one of his biggest disappointments, as well as the multitude of injuries he sustained and the suspension for smoking marijuana in 1994.

As for the highlight, he cites the 1999 tour of England, and particularly the series-clinching win in the fourth test at the Oval.

"That's the highest I've ever been. That team learned and grew so much under Steve Rixon, John Graham, Ashley Ross and Gilbert Enoka, and we're still seeing the benefits in terms of the senior players.

"Personally, I felt that once we'd moved on from that test we all felt like we were men playing cricket, as opposed to boys."

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