Michael Slater has accepted the "awesome ride" which constituted his cricket career was finally over and had just a couple of regrets.

Slater, who averaged 42.84 from 74 Tests, announced he was retiring from first class cricket after battling with reactive arthritis for the last seven months.

The dashing 34-year-old opening batsman hadn't played since last November, but said the decision was a painful one as he felt he still had so much to offer NSW.

Slater said he made the final decision late last week after stewing over it for some time.

"It just dawned on me it was unfair on myself in terms of getting fully recovery and on my teammates, and also locking up a contract, just in the hope of playing," Slater said.

"All of a sudden it fell into line and the decision was an easy one to make at that point."

He stressed his health had been the major factor in his decision, rather than the reduced contract he had been offered by NSW for next season.

"No-one likes getting a pay decrease and initially there was a little bit of disappointment and conversation about that, but when I went away and thought about moving forward it wasn't the money at all, it was purely to do with my health and getting back on track and getting back to 100 per cent fitness," Slater said.

Slater said there were a couple of things he would liked to have done differently, including the way he reacted to negative comments and gossip about his personal life.

"If I had my time again, not taking on board a lot of the stuff, the rumours and innuendos that were flying around a couple of years ago, because it hurt deeply," Slater said.

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