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Waugh's bat does the talking

By Ted Corbett

The Australian captain, Steve Waugh, became the third player in the world to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket when he reached 69 against England on Friday in Sydney. The others are Allan Border, also an Australian, and Sunil Gavaskar.

SYDNEY Jan. 3. On a lovely, warm Sydney evening we saw, piece by piece, all that was great about the Australian captain Steve Waugh as he took centre stage on the second day of the final Test. He completed his 29th century, equalling Don Bradman off the final ball of the day.

Some scripts are written in heaven. Waugh wrote this one on his home ground and now his right to be Australian captain can no longer be in doubt. Here was the lad from the city's west, surrounded by 41,913 of his own folk, showing that he has grown from a youth from a poor family into a giant among batsmen by passing through the small door that has admitted only three men to the 10,000 Test runs club: Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar and now Waugh.

Here was the man of grit and steel saving his side from disaster; turning 56 for three and possible defeat into a degree of safety at 237 for five in answer to England's 362. Here was the nearest answer to Bradman; surpassed only by Gavaskar who has 34 Test hundreds and Sachin Tendulkar who has 31.

Here was a cricketer who can absorb the pressure and come out a hero. It was, as usual, the briskest of rapid innings. Waugh needed only 61 balls to go to his 50 and by the end he had been at the wicket less than three hours and hit 18 fours off 130 balls.

The cover drive that scorched across the turf to bring up his 50 was the shot of the series; the off drive that brought up his hundred was great theatre in an unforgettable setting; ten years to the day that Border reached 10,000 runs on the same ground.

As he reached every milestone he was greeted by a standing ovation; the SCG must be the only all-seater stadium in the world where the spectators have spent most of the day on their feet. At the cheers for 50 he raised his bat slightly, at 69 as he passed 10,000 runs he accepted a handshake from his partner Martin Love and simultaneously raised his bat.

It will a long time before any of us forget the scenes after that final ball. He was still being cheered as he returned to the ground for television interviews. What effect the hundred, the run of small but useful scores in this series and the tiny signs that Waugh is every year of 37 will have on his chances of keeping his place in the side and therefore remaining as captain we cannot tell.

David Boon, his former team mate and the chairman Trevor Hohns were seen whispering conspiratorially; but whether they were debating plans for dinner, the worries over war or their concerns about Waugh was uncertain.

There is much talk here about a decision on Waugh at the end of this match but that is unlikely.

Waugh says he will not think about his future until the Test series ends - he is rested from the one-day matches - and the selectors do not need to pick a side for the West Indies for a month.

The early part of the day belonged to Alec Stewart, playing with a face puffed up by the mysterious rash which is not chicken pox; or so the doctors have decided after three days of tests. It is an illness he will cherish.

I have rarely seen Stewart bat with greater freedom in any of his 125 Tests in the last 12 years and his 71 was less than two hours with 18 fours.

There is no doubt that he will be the England wicket-keeper and middle order bat as long as he wants which probably means as long as he can perform his own two-step at the crease and twirl his bat.

If only John Crawley, who made 35 off 142 ball, had been half as quick as Stewart. What he had in mind no one can understand.

He was at the wicket for three and a half hours and faced 142 balls and, not surprisingly, he ran out of partners as England lost its last five wickets for 30. Still, none wanted to complain about slow scoring on the day Waugh made history.

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