Ricky Ponting has conceded it is unlikely he will ever play one-day international cricket again but has vowed to continue in Tests.
The 37-year-old called a press conference for Tuesday morning and there were rumours that he might be set to call time on his international career, but he stopped short of complete retirement and made it clear that he wants one last crack at regaining the Ashes in the longer version of the game.
The Tasmanian made both his Test and ODI debut way back in 1995 and has played 162 five-day matches for the Baggy Greens, scoring over 13,000 Test runs at an average of more than 53.
But he has also excelled in the 50-over game, with almost 14,000 runs at an average of 42.03 while notching 30 one-day centuries.
Ponting's form has dipped over the past 18 months, and he relinquished the captaincy after surrendering the Ashes to England last winter but always maintained that he wanted to stay in the side.
There were rumours that his Test place was under threat, but one century and a double hundred in the 4-0 drubbing of India confirmed that he can still handle the pressure of top-flight Test cricket.
However, he has been unable to make any impression in the current triangular series involving the Indians and Sri Lanka and, on Monday, chief selector John Inverarity announced that he had been dropped for the rest of the series.
Ponting immediately made it clear that he felt he had played his last one-dayer with the selectors hinting that they are looking to bring in younger players to build for the next World Cup.
And, speaking to reporters, the former skipper outlined his future in the game, which still includes playing Test and state cricket.
"I will continue playing Test cricket and I'll continue playing for Tasmania as well," he said. "I think I've proved to myself and to everybody else that I'm still capable of dominating Test cricket as I did in the last series against India.
"I'm looking forward to getting back and playing the last couple of Shield games for Tasmania this year and then heading to the West Indies hopefully with some runs under my belt."
While not actually announcing his one-day retirement, Ponting accepts that he will never wear the green and gold shirt again.
"It's a little bit hard to come here today and say I'm retiring when I've already been left out of the side," he added. "I don't expect to play one-day international cricket for Australia any more and I'm pretty sure the selectors don't expect to pick me either."