Paceman Brett Lee has confirmed his retirement from Test cricket in order to focus on shorter forms of the game.
Lee, who is Australia's fourth-highest Test wicket-taker, said he would now concentrate on Twenty20 and one-day international cricket and and spend more time with his family.
"This is not the end of me," 33-year-old Lee told reporters in Sydney. "It's a cricket choice and it's a lifestyle choice."
Lee said he would wait before deciding whether he would play in this year's Indian Premier League.
Lee played 76 Tests, taking 310 wickets at 30.81.
Lee has not put on the baggy green since the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in 2008. Since then he has battled a string of injuries to his foot, ankle and side.
Lee described breaking down with a side strain shortly before the 2009 Ashes series as a "cruel" twist of fate after a long injury rehab.
With the Australian Cricketers' Association expressing security concerns about the IPL tournament scheduled to start next month in India, Lee said he was awaiting developments.
"As far as going to India, it's just waiting and seeing," he said. "We're not in a rushed situation to make a call. "We (players) are not experts in that field."
Lee said the highlight of his career was taking his first Test wicket in Melbourne against India in 1999 - when he clean bowled Sadagoppan Ramesh.
"At that point I could've hung up the boots just then," he said. Lee hoped younger bowlers would not focus all their energy on the shorter forms of the game.
"Obviously, there's specialist one-day and Twenty20 bowlers," he said. "But for me, Test cricket is where it's at.
"There's a lot of luck in Twenty 20, a lot of skill and a bit of luck in one-dayers. "But Test cricket is a test for the bowlers and a test for the batsman."
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Lee would be remembered as one of the greats of the game.
"That's certainly the way he should be recognised," he said.
"If we all just take a minute and think about what he's put himself through in that 10 or 12 years - running 35 metres to bowl every ball, bowling every ball at close to 150km/h, and putting his heart on the line every ball he bowls.
"I think this bloke deserves a massive pat on the back."
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said Lee would be remembered as one of the most popular players in the world.
"I certainly hope that we're going to see a lot more international cricket from him in the coming years," Sutherland said.
"Throughout his career he's had an unbelievable record of being a part of a winning Australian cricket team."
