Wearing his baggy green cap for the last time, Steve Waugh left the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday with an imperishable legacy to the international game he graced for 18 long years.

　　Waugh prided himself on determination, discipline and timing, choosing the right ball to hit and which to leave, even if others might not agree.

　　So the 38-year-old Australian played one last match-saving innings to force a series draw against India, as if to script in his finale, and then ended his 168-test career that spanned almost two decades, saying it was the perfect time to quit.

　　"I can't imagine it can get any better than this. You look back to last year, I was under a lot of pressure, if I'd bowed out last year it wouldn't have been ideal," he said.

　　"This Australian side is a great side, they will continue to do well without me, they'll survive.

　　"I hope the legacy I leave is the side is still in good shape and can continue to do well. You've got to leave at some stage and this is the best way I can think of leaving."

　　Waugh was struggling to keep his spot in the starting 11 at this time last season, critics saying he was too old despite leading Australia to a resounding Ashes series win over England.

　　In the last match of that series, he scored a classic hundred, reaching triple figures on the last ball of the day. Australia lost but Waugh won the right to dictate when he'd give the game away.

　　In the last 12 months, he became the most capped test cricketer of all time, increased his career total to 10,927 test runs to rank second behind Allan Border in the all-time run-scoring charts and posted his 32nd test hundred, a number which is also second to Border.

　　He is the most successful test captain ever with 41 wins, nine losses and seven draws in 57 matches as the helm.

　　His 80 in a 142-run fifth-wicket partnership with Simon Katich yesterday was almost the perfect climax for Waugh, who made a habit of rescuing Australia from defeat over his 18 years in the national team.

　　"If it wasn't tough, anyone could do it," Waugh said, explaining his passion for test cricket. "Coming back from adversity is the trait you need if you're going to have longevity in the game and I think I've done that reasonably well."

　　Asked if there was a defining moment in his final test, he said there would have been if he'd scored 20 more runs to get his 33rd test hundred.

　　"There was a possibility of one, but I got out," he said. Although, "getting a lap of honor around the ground on top of your teammates' shoulders - that's as good as it gets as a sports person - that's something I'll never forget.

　　"I was extremely nervous before both innings, but as soon as I went onto the field it was almost a feeling of tranquility," he said. "Amazingly, even when I batted today, I was relaxed. Perhaps knowing it's your last test and there's nothing to lose helped.

　　"It took me to the last innings to realize that it is a game."