Caclutta: South Africa pacer Morne Morkel has announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket following the upcoming four-Test series against Australia.

Morkel cited family commitments as the main reason for his decision.

He said he would continue to play in cricket leagues around the world, including the IPL - where he went unsold at this year's auction - Australia's Big Bash League, and English county cricket.

Morkel's wife, Australian Roz Kelly, was part of Network 10's coverage of the BBL last summer, and the couple have a young son, Arias.

"Cricket is what I love," Morkel told reporters in Durban on Monday at a press conference. "Playing for the Proteas is something very special (but) family comes first.

"It was an extremely tough decision but I feel the time is right to start a new chapter," Morkel said. "I have a young family and a foreign wife, and the current demanding international schedule has put a lot of strain on us. I have to put them first and this decision will only benefit us going forward.

"I have loved every minute that I have played in the Proteas jersey, and I am incredibly grateful to my teammates, Cricket South Africa, and my family and friends for the support over the years. I still feel there is a lot of cricket left in me and I am excited for what lies ahead... I still feel great mentally and physically and yes, I will still be playing in other leagues around the world."

When asked about a favourite memory representing South Africa, winning big series away from home came to his mind.

"When I made my debut in 2006 against India was very special," he said of the Test match at Durban where he took three for 86 and hit 31 not out and 27.

"Becoming the No.1 Test team, beating Australia in Australia, England in England, so many right now running through my mind."

Morkel, who has taken 294 wickets in 83 Tests, says he's focused on breaking Australia's undefeated Test series record in South Africa that dates back to the Proteas' readmission into international cricket more than 25 years ago.

"We've beaten Australia in Australia but I haven't been part of a team to get one over them in our own backyard," he said.

"That will be the main focus. But the main thing is it's not about my retirement it's about winning the series.

"That's also one of the reasons why I wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible. It's now cricket time, it's now work time."

Since making his Test debut in 2006, Morkel has been a vital part of South Africa's most potent pace attack along with Dale Steyn, especially after Makahaya Ntini's last Test in 2009. More recently, he led their pace attack in late 2015 in India when South Africa were without Steyn and Vernon Philander. Morkel suffered a career-threatening back injury in 2016, which kept him out of action for most of the year. He missed series against New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka and only returned to the team in March 2017, in New Zealand but appeared a much improved bowler.

While Morkel always had the skill of extracting bounce, on his comeback he had also developed the ability to pitch the ball up more. His consistency and menace only grew and he was South Africa's leading wicket-taker on their tour to England in 2017.

He dismissed Michael Hussey and Andrew Strauss eight times apiece to make them his favourite batsmen to bowl at.

At the start of the summer, Morkel said he needed to discuss with coach Ottis Gibson about whether he would feature in the white-ball set-up before deciding on his future. In the weeks that followed, Gibson said he had spoken to Morkel and explained that, like every other player, he would be considered if he performed well. Morkel played in five of the six ODIs against India and appeared to be among South Africa's candidates for the 2019 World Cup until his retirement announcement on Monday.

He will end his ODI career with 188 wickets from 117 matches at an average of 25.32 with two five-fors. In T20 internationals - which he last played in Lahore for the World XI side - he collected 47 wickets from 44 matches at an economy rate of 7.50.