Burrows made 343 appearances for the Black Sticks and competed at three Olympic Games - Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

The 36-year-old is one of only three players who have been capped more than 300 times, along with Ryan Archibald and Dean Couzins.

He also represented his country at four editions of the Commonwealth Games as he took to the field at Manchester 2002, where New Zealand earned the silver medal, Melbourne 2006, Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014.

"I wasn’t really even thinking about it to be honest but I saw a few other guys retiring and thought it was a good time to do it, especially being in Melbourne with the guys," Burrows, currently an assistant coach for New Zealand at the International Festival of Hockey, said.

"I’m pretty upset to let the international game go but am really liking the fact that I’m still involved in the game of hockey.

"I think I would’ve been a lot more upset if I’d had to give everything away.

"I was lucky enough to travel all around the world playing the game I love and the main thing is the friends I’ve gained all over the world."

Burrows, the country’s leading scorer with 150 goals, still plays club hockey and is keen to continue his development as a coach.

He also won Commonwealth Games bronze in Delhi in 2010 and cites the semi-final in Manchester eight years earlier as one of the highlights of his career.

"People always say ‘what are your best moments’ and I’ve had plenty, but some of the best moments for me haven’t even been on the pitch they’ve just been spending time with the guys," he added.

"Game wise though, at the 2002 Commonwealth Games I had a pretty good semi and scored four against Pakistan so that’s a massive highlight and always will be.

"Also the 2004 Olympic Games as a team we performed above expectations and personally I had a good tournament and managed to take out top field goal scorer so I was pretty happy with that and it’s something I’ll remember forever.

"A special thank you to everyone who supported me during my career including the New Zealand public and hockey communities around the country.

"My family has got to be number one, with mum and dad paying for all those trips and driving me to training when I was younger, they’re the ones who got me to where I am today."