South African batsman Colin Ingram will leave Australia’s ongoing Big Bash League early.

Ingram captained the Adelaide Strikers through an unsuccessful 2018-19 BBL campaign, which has yielded a mere five wins in 13 matches.

‘His wife Megan is seven months pregnant and their daughter Mia is about to start school, so once we had no chance of making the finals it was agreed he could leave early and return home with his family,’ South Australian Cricket Association high performance general manager Tim Nielsen told the Adelaide Strikers’ website.

‘It has been a tough campaign for the team, but Colin has been a great leader around the group and also made a strong contribution with the bat.’

The hard-hitting left-hander struck 333 runs in 13 innings, including three half-centuries during the latest BBL. He will play for the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League later this month.

‘To see my daughter go to her first day of school will be great, and also just to be able to shepherd my family home before heading off to another tournament, I’m grateful,’ added Ingram.

‘Obviously it’s disappointing to be knocked out at this stage of the season, especially after last year with how smoothly things ran, and how much fun we had in winning the trophy.

‘I’ve enjoyed the company of the guys again, it’s a great group to play cricket with. I also enjoyed the leadership role and was well supported by a number of different people, and our three coaches were outstanding. It was a tough season, but there was no complaining and there was no finger-pointing, that’s a really good sign in terms of things to come.’

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