Shaun Pollock has bowed out as South Africa's captain by blaming the country's cricket authorities for failing to allow him to do the job in the way he wanted.
Pollock told a news conference on Sunday that restrictions imposed in the wake of the scandal involving his predecessor, Hansie Cronje, had made the job difficult.
"Since the Hansie issue there has been an effort to ensure
the captain isn't given too much power," he said.
"Shared responsibility was the approach they wanted. That
hasn't worked out from my perspective.
"As captain you want full support to be able to do what you want.
"The style I bring to the party is not what they want. As a captain you want to live and die by your decisions and what has been done to me as captain is not really what you want."
Despite that, the 29-year-old confirmed that he had wanted to continue in the job, which he had done since April 2000.
"I did not resign as I felt that would be the soft option.
"I didn't want to be a person who was perceived to have
left South African cricket in the lurch or quit when the
going got tough," Pollock added.
There was speculation about his position last year after South Africa were outplayed by Australia, but he held on as coach Graham Ford carried the can for their defeat.
The UCB has supported Shaun 100
per cent - it has supported him 150 per cent
United Cricket board chief executive Gerald Majola
Eric Simons was brought in to replace Ford and it led to an upturn in results as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were all beaten in home Test and one-day series.
Hopes were high that they could become the first hosts to win the World Cup, but Pollock's side failed to survive the first round group stage.
They went out following a rain-affected game with Sri Lanka which ended in a tie under the Duckworth-Lewis calculations, when South Africa needed only one more run to win.
Pollock, the son of former South African fast bowler Peter Pollock and nephew of batting legend Graeme, insisted that the mix-up had not been his fault.
"I was batting in the middle. I got out, got back to the pavilion and there was a debate on.
"I never saw the Duckworth-Lewis paper, it was in front of the coach."
Opening batsman Graeme Smith is set to take over as captain and Pollock has promised his full support.
"I feel I still have a big role to play in South African cricket," he said.
South Africa return to action next month in a one-day series in Sharjah, which will be followed by a tour to Bangladesh.