Australia’s veteran cricket captain Steve Waugh, the most successful Test skipper in the history of the game, on Wednesday announced his retirement from international competition after the upcoming series with India.
Waugh, the most capped player in the sport’s history and its second highest run-scorer after a Test career spanning 19 years, said he has advised Cricket Australia of his intention to end his international career after the fourth Test in January.
”The upcoming Sydney Test will be my last for Australia should I be selected to play,” the Sydney-born 38-year-old batsman told a packed news conference.
He said his present form of fitness suggests he can play on, but added: ”All good things must come to an end and I believe Sydney is a perfect place to finish.”
Waugh, whose twin brother, Mark, retired from Test cricket after he was dropped last year, told reporters the past 12 months have been among the most challenging and the most rewarding of an international career that started in 1985.
He said he wants to retire while he is still playing well and insisted the decision is unrelated to any hint from selectors that he will not be picked for a tour of India next season.
Waugh was recently reported to have been told his exceptional form this year counted for little and that he had to to maintain high standards to continue to be selected.
”Right now I’m plying consistently well,” he said. ”I want to go out on a high and I think Sydney is the right place. I didn’t even tell my family about this decision until this morning.”
There was no immediate announcement on a successor as Test skipper but Waugh said one-day captain Ricky Ponting is the obvious choice as he has been groomed for the job.
Waugh is the most successful Test captain with a record number of victories and is second on the all-time list of Test century-makers with 32, just two behind Indian great Sunnil Gavaskar.
Waugh’s current batting average is 51,25 in 164 Tests. He has scored 10 660 runs, second only to Allan Border, his former Test captain, who scored 11 174.
Both outscored the man acknowledged as the greatest cricketer of all time, Australia’s Sir Donald Bradman, although Bradman had a batting average of almost 100 in far fewer Tests.
Waugh said he is now looking forward to spending more time with his wife, Lynette, and three children.
”Lynette, Rosy, Austin and Lily have supported my cricket ambitions in a selfless manner,” he said. ”I now look forward to spending more time with them in a more traditional family unit.
”I just feel right now I am playing consistent cricket, I’m really enjoying my cricket. My family and friends will be there in Sydney, it’s a great place to finish and I think now is the right time.”
Waugh had been expected to push on to try to achieve the elusive goal of a series victory in India, but said he prefers to end his Test career in front of his home crowd in Sydney.
”It is still going to be a great challenge to the guys going to India next year, and I’ll be supporting them and watching them and hope they do well,” he said. ”I just won’t be there.” — Sapa-AFP