``I know that today I've made the right decision ... I really feel that I'm starting to lose the edge to compete, particularly on the international stage,'' Taylor told a packed news conference.

He said he had lost his appetite for Test cricket since retaining the Ashes against England several weeks ago, and that he had tried to base his decision largely on whether he could do well on the upcoming tour of the West Indies.

``I feel that my heart is not quite in it and if it is not in it I won't do well. I still think we may win the series but that is not why I should go and keep playing,'' he said.

Taylor, 34, said he also wanted to spend more time with his wife and two little boys, William, 6, and Jack, 4. He said he had achieved more in cricket than he ever thought he would, and that he was not leavingthe game with sadness. "I am leaving it happy and I am looking forward to the next few years.''

A veteran of 104 Tests, 50 as captain, he won three Ashes series victories against England, a series against South Africa, the first series victory against the West Indies in 23 years and the first series triumph over Pakistan for 39 years.

Taylor is one of Australia's greatest heroes -- seen as a natural leader, cool in crisis, smart, polite at all times and a man of integrity worthy of the Australian of the Year award he won last week.

England captain Alec Stewart and Australian Prime Minister John Howard led a chorus of praise for the departing skipper. Stewart described the veteran left-handed batsman on Tuesday as the best and most tactically astute captain he had ever played against and said he had helped make Australia the best team in the world.

Howard added: ``I'd like on behalf of all Australians to thank Mark Taylor for a magnificent innings as captain of Australia. He has been a very greatcaptain.''

Star Aussie spinner Shane Warne said Taylor would go down in history as one of the ``all-time good captains for Australia.''

Opening batsman Taylor notched up 7525 Test runs, more than any other Aussie except Allan Border, took a world record 157 Test catches and in December equalled the record Australian innings set by the legendary Sir Donald Bradman with an unbeaten 334 against Pakistan.

Taylor captained the side for almost five years through one of the most successful yet most turbulent eras of Australian cricket, winning 26 of his 50 Tests as captain, losing 13 and drawing 11.

He had just been appointed captain when Pakistani captain Salim Malik allegedly offered bribes to several Australian players to throw a match in what has become one of cricket's ugliest episodes.

Mark Waugh and Shane Warne both became embroiled indirectly in the bribes scandal when they admitted selling pitch and weather information to an illegal Indian bookie and were fined by the Australian CricketBoard.

Since then, Taylor has been caught up in pay disputes and numerous other controversies including the suspension three weeks ago of batsman Ricky Ponting over a brawl in an all-night bar.

He was also dumped as captain of the one-day side in 1997 and replaced by Steve Waugh under a new policy of selecting two national sides for the different cricket codes.

He named twins Steve and Mark Waugh and spinner Warne as candidates to succeed him as captain, but said they were three good friends ``and I don't want to alienate myself from the other two by pointing one out.''

Taylor's Milestones

1964: October 27, born Mark Anthony Taylor in Leeton, Australia
1985: Makes first class debut
1989: Makes Test debut vs West Indies at Sydney, scoring 25 & 3
1989: Marries Judith Matthews
1989: Scores first Test century, 136 vs England at Leeds
1992: Named as Australian vice-captain
1994: Named as Australian captain. Makes a pair in hisfirst Test as captain, vs Pakistan
1996: Leads Australia to final of one-day World Cup
1998: Equals Don Bradman's Australian Test record of 334 n.o. vs Pakistan, Peshawar
1998: Plays 100th Test, vs England at Brisbane
1999: Leads Australia to record sixth series win over England, breaks Allan Border's world record for the most number of catches by a fieldsman (157)
1999: February 2, announces retirement from international cricket