Nathan Hauritz, the player used most by Australia to plug the gaping spin void left by Shane Warne until Nathan Lyon's emergence, has quietly ended his 15-year playing career.

As his Melbourne Renegades were eliminated from the Big Bash League on Monday night, the 34-year-old, who had been relegated to a backup role for all but one of their eight matches, decided it was time to focus on his post-playing career. For the past two seasons he has not had a state contract - he was cut by Queensland at the end of 2013-14 - and struggled to get back to his best just for a two-month stint in the BBL.

Nathan Hauritz says he'll look back fondly and proudly at his career. Credit:Sebastian Costanzo

"I was toying with it after I played with the [Sydney] Thunder and found out I wasn't going back there [after last season]. . . but I got an offer from the Renegades at the same time, because they want to play two spinners," he said.

"It was really tough that I wasn't playing and training at that level anymore to get straight into it. I felt the pressure a lot more than I usually had. This year, I felt that if things weren't 100 per cent right - I started to feel I was done - I don't want to go through more heartache or disappointment, [just] to try and finish on a high."