The Taylor Years by Ken Piesse

Author:Ken Piesse
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ligature Pty Limited
Published: 2021-11-13T08:40:07+00:00

Profile: Mark Waugh

Cricketing aristocrat Mark Waugh’s elevation to the ranking of No. 2 batsman in the world, behind twin brother Steve, at the conclusion of the South African series in 1997 was confirmation of the unqualified success of the new, hard-nosed approach he’d adopted. He wanted to not only cement his place, but to become one of Australia’s all-time best Test batsmen.

Years before, after four ducks in a row in Sri Lanka, he’d given away all his equipment to the team’s room attendant in Colombo. Dropped from the Test team just 12 months after his fairytale first century in Test cricket when he was dubbed an ‘instant super Test hero’ by his captain Allan Border, Waugh not only revived, he played with such charm and artistry that he was easily the most-watchable of all the elite Australian batsmen.

As one of Mark Taylor’s indispensables, not only did he score runs consistently, he did it with a joyous, effortless grace which thrilled old masters like Greg Chappell, who, four centuries into Waugh’s Test career, had predicted he’d go on to make 20.

From the mid-90s, Waugh joined brother Steve as Australia’s premier batsmen, his centuries in Jamaica in 1995 and at Port Elizabeth in 1997 confirmation of his ability to perform, even under the most enormous pressure.

The following Australian season, against the South Africans in Adelaide, he was to bat through an entire day’s play and for the first time in his Test career—to his supreme satisfaction—was instrumental in Australia saving, rather than winning, a match. Almost as fulfilling among four centuries for the 1998 calendar year was his Test-best 153 not out in oppressive conditions against India at Bangalore. It enabled Australia to win its only match of its autumn tour. His ranking as Australia’s leading one-day batsman continued.

Waugh believed his career-best form was more to do with extra experience, but he’d also developed a harder edge to his batting. No longer was he flustered by the inevitable initial volley of bouncers which, at one stage in the 1992–93 campaign against the touring West Indies, prompted Brian Lara to accuse him of being frightened. ‘No heart man,’ he called from slip. ‘Get behind it.’

Waugh’s whole game continued to be built around being positive and refusing to allow even the sharpest bowlers to dictate. He improvised, reviving the deliberate steer over the top of the slips made famous years before by the South African Eddie Barlow. He was also concentrating better and seemed to have a little of brother Steve’s focus, without losing his flamboyance. Sometimes he was victim of a so-called ‘soft’ dismissal, like Englishman David Gower, but it didn’t mean he didn’t care. Poor shots pained him just as much as they did Steve. He just didn’t tend to show his disappointment quite as openly. In Perth, in 1995–96, however, having broken a run of ducks against Sri Lanka with 111 in the first of three Tests, he responded to some heckling from one section of the crowd when he was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.