Steve Waugh rules out any chance of early retirement

Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has indicated he may still be playing cricket after the 2003 World Cup, putting him in the picture for future tours of the West Indies in 2003 and Sri Lanka and India in 2004.

Waugh signalled his intentions on Wednesday when he signed a three-year batting contract with Indian conglomerate MRF, a tyre manufacturer with a strong interest in cricket.

Speaking to Australian media at the announcement of his new bat endorsement, Waugh said he still had unfinished business in India where Australia lost a Test series earlier this year, tarnishing its exceptional record of the past few years.

There has been much speculation over when the Australian captain, now 36 years old, will retire with the common view that he would call it quits after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

However, if Waugh continues to play Test cricket for the duration of his bat sponsorship contract it would see him taking the Australians to India in September 2004.

Waugh's new bat deal is rumoured to be worth between A$250,000 ($125,000) and A$300,000 per year, which would make it the richest bat sponsorship contract in Australian cricket history.

Waugh has batted with a clean blade for most of this year after his previous contract with British bat manufacturer Gunn and Moore was cancelled due to the company cutting back on endorsements.

In using MRF-labelled bats, Waugh joins the likes of top Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar who has recently become the youngest player to score 7,000 Test runs.

Mail Cricket Editor