Sydney, Oct 23 Mark Waugh, one of the great Stroke-makers of the modern cricket era, says he's nearly done and is looking to get out of the way of young up-and-coming cricketers. The 38-year-old twin brother of Australian Test captain Steve Waugh said today this coming (southern) summer season would probably be his last for New South Wales after he was dropped from the Australian Test and one-day teams a year ago.
"Yeah, I've thought about retirement," the veteran of 128 Tests, 244 international one-dayers and 358 first-class games said here today.
"I'm not getting any younger. I'm not saying this is it for sure, but I've got to be realistic.
"I'm probably nearly done. There are young players on the fringe at the moment who will be ready next year and I don't want to stand in their way.
"But at the moment I'm still keen and it's going to be another good year for the Blues (NSW), so why not keep going? you're a long time retired."
Waugh, who scored 8,029 Test runs at 41.81 and took a record 181 test catches, said he wanted to help bring a new generation of cricketing stars through to the senior NSW state team after the Blues won last season's Sheffield Shield and one-day titles.
"You keep going for your own pride, the challenge of it, plus I want to try to help develop the kids we've got at the moment," he said at the NSW team launch today. "There's a lot of talent here. Just being around them keeps me going a bit. Hopefully I can help make them better players."
Bureau Report