Steve Waugh believes he would have cheated himself if he didn't continue his decorated Test career in the Caribbean next month.

The Australian captain ended months of speculation by making himself available for the four-Test series against the West Indies, ignoring the chance for a perfect farewell following his memorable century against England in January.

"I thought about that - the perfect way to go out - but I don't see why there can't be another good finish somewhere down the track," Waugh said tonight.

"I feel as if I'm playing really well and, if I retired now, I think I would be selling myself short.

"The motivation was I feel as if I'm playing excellent cricket, I'm batting well and I want to score some more runs.

"The last 24-48 hours I've weighed up the pros and cons and there were more positives than negatives and I decided I really wanted to continue."

Waugh will reassess his future after the Caribbean tour, with selectors certain to name his as captain when they choose the 15-man squad tomorrow night.

When the 37-year-old leads Australia out for the first Test in Guyana on April 10, he will become the most capped player in world cricket with 157 Tests.

But he denied the chance to break Allan Border's record, or the opportunity to push towards Australia's holy grail of a series victory in India next year, contributed to his decision.

"I'm not too concerned about those records anymore. If you play for long enough you're going to get records and that didn't motivate me to continue on," Waugh said.

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