Waugh wasn't planning to retire

Mark Waugh says he would not have retired after the Sydney Test had he not been dropped for the Ashes cricket series against England.

Many fans believed Waugh was robbed of the chance of a fairytale farewell from international cricket, but the 37-year-old said he had no intention of playing his last Test in his home city.

He hoped to make a fourth tour of the West Indies next year and backed himself to get runs in the Ashes series to earn his ticket to the Caribbean.

"The idea of a Sydney farewell in the final Test was never mine," Waugh wrote in Sunday's Sun Herald newspaper.

"My view was that if I kept my place in the team and got runs against England, then I wanted to go on the West Indies tour next year.

"And if I got runs there, I wanted to stay in the team beyond that.

"There seems to be a feeling that the Australian selectors robbed me of the chance to retire on my home ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground, in front fo my home crowd and against our traditional opponents, the Poms.

"Sure, Sydney would have been better than Sharjah, where we played Pakistan, but I wasn't looking for that.

"I guess every Test player would like to finish on his own terms if possible, but I hadn't reached the stage where I was looking to make the next series my last.

"I was quite happy to keep gambling on getting enough runs to convince the selectors to keep picking me."

The 128-Test veteran revealed he declined an offer from chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns to make a dignified exit before being axed.

"I knew the public would have seen straight through it with the team so close to being named," he said.

"When I got the call from Cracker about 10am last Saturday I knew he wasn't ringing to ask me for my race tips.

"I assumed the worst and I was right.

"He said 'unfortunately, we're not going to pick you for the first Test.'

"I said 'oh, fair enough. You've got a job to do'.

"Then he said 'you've had a great career and I'd like to congratulate you on that'.

"I could tell from Cracker's voice that it was a really difficult phone call for him to make.

"He didn't have to explain why I wasn't in the team. I didn't get the runs in Pakistan and, at 37, you don't get too many more chances.

"I can handle it."

Waugh said his father Rodger was probably the most disappointed to hear of his son's sacking.