Steve Waugh, fighting to prolong his Test career and honour, went directly to the Australian public to deny that greed for money was keeping him from quitting international cricket. In a back-page article published in the Sydney-based Daily Telegraph, Waugh, 37, insisted, "the one point I disagree with totally is the notion that money keeps you playing.

"If money was my intent, it would be much less stressful and easier to play County cricket (in England) and earn more money than I can by playing for Australia... I would play for nothing if there was no revenue being generated from the game."

Waugh could not find a place among 30 Australian probables for the World Cup, increasing speculation that his international career would end when the current England Ashes tour to Australia wraps up in January.

After his twin brother Mark was dropped for the current Ashes series, Waugh has been facing calls that he should avoid such humiliation by retiring on his own accord. Kim Hughes, a former Australian captain, even suggested that Waugh will not quit on his own and might have to be forced out.

When Waugh declared that he hoped to still be leading Australia when they meet India for a Test series in 2004, some commentators saw his determination as simple greed.

But Waugh wrote that he still had not given up hope of forcing his way back into the World Cup squad, and beyond, and insisted his perseverance was not about money.

He said the Australian way to never give up was why their side was such a success - thereby hinting that he too wasn't ready to give up just yet - or to accompany his twin brother, Mark, who will be paraded around the Sydney Cricket Ground in an open-topped car during the final Ashes Test - in a belated farewell planned by the ACB.

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