Mark Waugh is to retire from cricket next month, ending a distinguished career spanning almost two decades.

The 38-year-old quit international cricket in 2002 after being dropped from Australia's one-day and Test teams and now says he is ready to leave the first-class arena.

"I'm getting older and I think the time is right to go now," Waugh told a news conference at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday.

One of Australia's most elegant and accomplished batsmen, Waugh said he would hang up his bat after the domestic season finished next month.

"I've enjoyed my last two seasons for New South Wales, having won the double last year and seeing a number of young players develop this year. At 38, now is the right time to retire after almost 20 years of first-class cricket."

Waugh has played 366 first-class matches, scoring 26,765 runs at an average of 52.07, with a highest score of 229 not out.

He also played 128 Tests for Australia, making 8,029 runs at 41.81, and is his country's leading run-scorer in one-day internationals.

TEST AXE

Waugh lost his place in the one-day team in February 2002 and was dropped from the Test side later that year.

He continued playing for New South Wales, helping them win the first-class and one-day double in 2002-03, but has struggled for runs, failing to score a century in either form of the game and averaging in the mid 30s.

Waugh, whose twin brother Steve quit the Test team in January and also plans to quit first-class cricket next month, said he wanted to choose the timing of his retirement.

"It's better than being dropped...it's good to go out on your own terms," he said.

"There's some good younger players in the team, so I think it's time for them to step up and myself and Stephen to walk away."

Waugh made his first-class debut in 1985 but did not make his maiden Test appearance until 1991, when he was called up at the expense of his brother, scoring a century against England to mark the occasion.

That same season, the twins shared a world record fifth-wicket first-class partnership of 464 for New South Wales against Western Australia, and established themselves as regulars in the Test team.

They played more than 100 Tests together over the next decade, easily a record for two brothers, and helped Australia win the 1999 World Cup.

Waugh was sometimes criticised as lazy for throwing his wicket away when bigger scores beckoned.

But the lowest point in his career came in 1998 when he was fined along with Shane Warne after admitting taking money off an illegal Indian bookmaker in exchange for information about pitch and weather conditions.

He was investigated, then cleared, by the sport's anti-corruption committee and survived widespread calls for his sacking from the team.