A batsman who adds carefree confidence to brilliance

By Malcolm Conn

SYDNEY, JAN. 1. When Mark Waugh steps onto the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday for his 100th Test the rousing reception from an adoring home crowd should linger in appreciation. Just maybe this will be their last chance to say thanks for the memories at a Test match.

In a timeless world we could all simply reflect on his brilliance for Mark Waugh has been the stylish of his generation yet with the substance to become just the sixth Australian to achieve a century of Tests.

It is his brilliance with the bat and in the slips which has been at the centre of helping to redefine Australia as the world's finest Test nation.

His match-changing century against the West Indies in Jamaica in 1995 during a partnership with brother Steve, who went on to make 200, set Australia up to break almost two decades of Caribbean domination.

And on a windy afternoon in Port Elizabeth two years later Waugh won a match and a series with his exquisite blade.

The ease with which he scored 116 of Australia's 8-271 on a difficult wicket while everyone struggled around him is among the finest highlights of his class. No other Australian made 50 in the match. Rarely has there been a better chase and even more rarely has it been built around a better innings.

More than that, Mark Waugh redefined how Australia's batsmen approached the game. Without the baggage of the awful eighties, when Australian cricket plunged to its nadir and every batting day was a grim struggle for survival, he added carefree confidence.

Cricket was fun after all. Batsmen could run down the wicket and hit the spinners into next week. They could take on the West Indian quicks with hooks and cuts.

His refusal to be dominated in the early `90s led to a ploy of giving himself room to slash the short ball over slips, sparking a great debate - are batsmen who back away actually running away.

Looking at Mark's good record against the West Indies - no. He simply wanted to break the mould, as his brother has since done with the captaincy.

But that was then. No more aware of time are we today than at the dawn of a new millennium. The continuing dominance of Australian cricket is all about creating history not reflecting upon it. This continued success has come from the strength to make generational changes - look at Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist.

Therefore the signs for Mark Waugh are mixed. His catching is still peerless so he can say with some justification that it is not his eyes or his reflexes which are the reason for a worrying increase in his inconsistency, in the same way Mark Taylor was able to do a couple of years ago.

Instead Waugh talks about mental strain. He has been on the road virtually non-stop since the Commonwealth Games 16 months ago and is the only member of the team to have played every Test and one- day series in that time.

``If you haven't got that mental edge it will soon catch up with you. I've found that the hardest, staying up mentally for every game,'' he said as the team flew from Melbourne to Sydney to prepare for the third and final Test against India.

``There's been so much cricket you've got to somehow get through it. It will be good to have a break this winter, to sit back and have a look and see where I'm going. The last year or so I've probably struggled more than any other time, with the one-dayers as well. It's a pretty hectic schedule. You've got to try and freshen up between games. Try and get away from cricket as much as you can if you get a break.''

He is uncertain about where life and the game will take him but believes he is still playing well enough to make those decisions on his own terms. After a tour of New Zealand and short tour of South Africa, which Waugh clearly believes he will make, a rare winter off will bring time for reflection.

``I can decide how much longer I want to play Test and first class cricket. I may want to play overseas, I don't know,'' Waugh said.

This is not a hint at retirement. Indeed, being the straight- forward and uncomplicated bloke that he is, there are no real plans for the future, although he laughed about the possibility of following Mark Taylor and Ian Healy into a career with Channel Nine. He believes the commentary box is now full.

He also saw the funny side of not being able to pursue his other great love, racing, by training horses. He is allergic to horse hair. ``Everytime I go near a horse I sneeze,'' he said with a smile.

There is nothing else on the drawing board. ``I haven't really thought about it. I don't know what I'd like to do to be honest. Hopefully I'll have another couple of years to decide. It will be somewhere in the sporting field I would think.''

He balked at suggestions that his age, 35 in June, was a sign that the curtain was about to fall. For a start, his brother and Australian captain Steve Waugh is exactly the same age and no one has been preparing his retirement paddock.

However, the reality is that of the 100 club members only Allan Border (156 Tests) went beyond 35. Ian Healy (119) and David Boon (107) retired at that age. Mark Taylor retired last season at 34. That leaves only brother Steve still going on 124 Tests.

Mark Waugh's increasing unease against the short ball, which was evident early in his ultimately fruitful second innings at the MCG this week, has had some former greats wondering about the state of his nerve.

This may help explain a reluctance to push forward, particularly early in his innings, leaving him susceptible to leg before wicket dismissals when the ball darts back.

Then again, with the comfort of his home ground Waugh may play an innings which revives all the magic and memories of centuries he has scored against England and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground over past two years.

Waugh will be greatly missed when he is gone. Already he has one of the finest records in Australian cricket. How much finer it becomes is entirely up to him.

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