SYDNEY, 27 November 2003 — Australia’s veteran cricket captain Steve Waugh, the most successful Test skipper in the history of the game, yesterday 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 had 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 suggested he could 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 last 12 months had been among the most challenging and the most rewarding of an international career that started in 1985.
He said he wanted to retire while he was still playing well and insisted the decision was unrelated to any hint from selectors that he would 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 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 was the obvious choice as he had been groomed for the job.
