Australia's Test captain Steve Waugh has confirmed that he is available for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

"Steve is available to tour West Indies," Australian Cricket Board spokesman Peter Young told Reuters on Saturday.

"He has advised chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns that he's available for selection. Steve will talk to the media tonight."

Waugh, 37, who has played 156 Tests, a world record he shares with fellow Australian Allan Border, has refused over the past two months to make clear if he would be available for the Caribbean tour which begins at the end of this month.

He was not selected for the one-day squad contesting the World Cup in southern Africa.

Australia's selectors will choose the tour squad on Sunday and are expected to announce the 15-man party on Monday.

Waugh is captaining New South Wales in the Australian interstate first-class championship final against Queensland in Brisbane. His recent form has been outstanding. In first-class cricket in Australia this season he has scored 899 runs at an average of 47.31, an aggregate bettered by only Queensland's Martin Love, who has 1,105 runs in one more match.

Waugh's most recent Test was against England in Sydney in January when he made 102 to equal Don Bradman's mark of 29 Test hundreds.

He became Test captain in the Caribbean in early 1999 after Mark Taylor retired. Later that year Australia started a world record run of 16 successive Test wins spanning almost two years before the side lost a series 2-1 in India.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 22 Sub: Steve Steve Waugh is a "gift" to Australian cricket. He shud stay at the helm as long as he feels he can deliver . . . ... Posted by VENKY Sub: Fight on Steve Fight on Steve: The gutsiest and the most respected cricketer of all time. Posted by Arun Gopinath Sub: Well done !!! Steve , well done. i hope u continue long enough toi cross 34 hundred . i am sure u can do it. Also come to ... Posted by Johnson Sub: Steve waugh I feel Steve Waugh should call it quits. I feel that he has nothing else to prove to anyone. His century against England in the ... Posted by Siddharth Sub: Steve,make hay while the sun shines........ With the kind of opposition the Aussies are going to be playing from April to July ie 4 tests against a weak WI team,2 against ... Posted by Suketu Shah