Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath said yesterday he would retire from all forms of cricket after next year's World Cup.

McGrath ended days of speculation about his future when he confirmed he would join Shane Warne by ending his test career in next month's final Ashes test against England in Sydney.

But McGrath said he would continue playing one-day internationals for another four months before retiring altogether after the World Cup, to be held in the West Indies in March and April.

"As of the end of the World Cup later next year I'll be finishing up all forms of cricket," McGrath told a news conference in Melbourne.

"Obviously that means Sydney will be my last match, but it's probably a perfect or fitting ending for myself being my home ground and my favourite ground in the world."

McGrath, 36, said he was bowling as well as ever and could have kept on playing but was retiring to spend more time with his family. He took eight months off this year to look after his children while his wife Jane was undergoing treatment for cancer.

McGrath rose from humble beginnings to become the world's most successful fast bowler, capturing 555 test wickets in 122 matches, and 342 one-day international wickets in 230 games.

The lanky paceman tormented the best batsmen for over a decade with his unerring accuracy but rumours were rife that he was set to quit.