| Quotes Can you
recall the day when you got the first call to
join the national team? It was
Christmas time and there were a lot of people in
our house and I was supposed to be in Melbourne
for the match. In a hurry I packed and left for
the airport. On reaching Melbourne I realised
that I had packed two left shoes. Later I had to
get the right shoes couriered to Melbourne
What
sorts of things make you angry? Shopping
for any longer than 20 minutes. I don't like
waiting in airports for my bags. Even worse, I
don't like waiting in airports when my bags are
lost. Delayed planes. We seem to spend half our
lives waiting for bags or in airport
lounges--that's frustrating.
Career
after cricket? I'm a simple person and
lead a simple life. Money does not motivate me as
long as I can provide for my children. I'd like
to make a difference, working with the children
in India or something. With my profile I can
help. And being as good a father as I can is a
big challenge.
"Apart
from his love for a fight when we're doing it
tough in a game, one thing you can rely on with
Tugga is his trusty camera....If you're ever in
your worst & lowest moment you can expect
Steve their beside you to take a couple of
snaps!" - Glenn McGrath
"Steve
is also incredibly untidy. I've never seen
anyone with a messier kit....you could put a
sandwich in Steve's coffin (sports bag) and he
wouldn't find it for two years!" -
Alan Border
"Steve
had a big crop of black hair and he was really
pretty. Whenever anyone looked at them they
would say 'oh what lovely twins - a boy and a
girl!' Stephen was always referred to as a girl
with his pretty face. Mark didn't have much
hair at all. Stephen had a lot of black
hair, very long." -
Beverley Waugh (Steve and Mark's mother) on Waugh
twins when they were young
You've
just dropped the world cup mate" - To
Herschelle Gibbs after Gibbs dropped a simple
catch off Steve Waugh in the last match of the
Super Six stage of the World Cup.
"We're
ecstatic but relieved. It's called inner strength
and belief in your teammates. We can overcome any
sort of adversity" - after
the tie with South Africa in the semi final
The
way Cricket's most celebrated twins approach the
game is completely different. Steve
Waugh is a nudger and a pusher, a batsman who
will protect his wicket with his life. He hardly
will play an extravagant stroke and is the man
for the crisis.
Mark
on the other hand loves to take chances. He is an
artist and if he does not find a challenge in the
bowling or find the situation challenging then he
will play a loose shot and get out. He is
extremely unpredictable, he will get out all of a
sudden just when he has the bowlers at his mercy.
But he is an entertainer. His game is appreciated
not because of the amount of runs he gets but the
way he gets them.
Steve Waugh is
the messiest person on tour. He has stuff
everywhere and loses his wallet more than twice a
day
Steve
has made a score of 150 or more against every
Test playing nation in the world. Not a single
other batsman has hit even a 100 against all Test
playing nations in the history of the game.
CAPTAIN Steve
Waugh wants all future Australian teams to visit
Gallipoli on the way to England for an Ashes
series.
Moments after he
and his twin brother Mark laid wreaths at the
Anzac Cove memorial, a humbled Waugh reflected
the mood of his teammates as they became
increasingly enlightened to the magnitude of the
Australian commitment here 86 years ago.
"Even
this morning I was in the shower and it started
trickling. I was standing there thinking the damn
shower is no good and then I thought these guys
were freezing in the trenches and fighting for
eight months, so what have I got to complain
about?
"It
does put things into perspective."
People used to
tell Bev (Steve's mother) that Steve was to shy,
he didn’t know how to talk. "I
used to tell them that you don’t have to
speak to prove yourself. Your actions will speak
for you. He does a lot of work which he never
tells anyone about."
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Fun Facts Mark on
Steve: " I couldn't believe
that. He copied off me all year. I
think they got our paper mixed up. It's not that
he's dumb but he shouldn't have got more than
me." - Mark Waugh on Steve's HSC
marks where he got more than 300, which was more
than what Mark got
Steve
on Mark: "Australia is lucky to have
him & we should be thankful I didn't kick him
so hard that his head went through the garage
door ! - Steve on his brother Mark when
they were kids
Steve
Waugh has taken it upon himself to coach
Glen McGrath and improve his batting whereas Mark
Waugh is quite positive about the fact
that he is the worst tail ender the World of
Cricket has ever seen. In fact he has even laid a
bet on the fact that McGrath will never ever get
a test fifty.
A
poem written by Steve Waugh & Gavin Robertson
on playing for Australia:
Ball through the window A warm
patch of grass
Across in the backyard were worth the panes of
glass
A head full of heroes with cricket every day
Could it be that baggy cap would come your way?
Don't give up, now don't give up Never lose the
dream
Its better than a crown of jewels to wear the
baggy green
Batters take the centre Bowlers hit the seam
You never take for granted the baggy green
A bad LBW brings about a fight
Mum from the kitchen always makes it right
Play resumes, you dream again, you hear Australia
shout
You wish the day would never end you're still not
out
Don't give up, now don't give up Never lose the
dream
Its better than a crown of jewels to wear the
baggy green
Batters take the centre Bowlers hit the seam
You never take for granted the baggy green
See the crest resembles me and you
The green and gold of course, the emu and the roo
Just to feel the felt sends a shiver up your
spine
You pinch yourself you can't believe its really
mine
Don't give up, now don't give up Never lose the
dream
Its better than a crown of jewels to wear the
baggy green
Batters take the centre Bowlers hit the seam
You never take for granted the baggy green
No you never take for granted the baggy green.
Mark Waugh was very particular
about the way he dressed but Steve was
pretty casual. Quite in contrast to
their cricketing styles today where Mark
appears so casual about everything he does and Steve so
serious.
A close study of the Waugh
brothers today would suggest that Steve
would be the guy who is more quiet and reserved
and Mark would be most likely to play a prank and
pull a fast one on his mates. But it
wasn't to be at least not in their early years.
It was Stephen who was more mischievous and he
didn't need an invitation for any mischief
whereas Mark would always be the one who would
followed suit
Although
Mark appears to be more open, flamboyant and
uninhibited both in his cricket and in his
persona while Steve appears more reserved,
conservative and stuck up, it is not the case. Steve is
just more focused and gets a kick out of leading
Australia or helping kids at Udayan. On the
other hand Mark is more flamboyant both in his
cricket and also the way he goes about his
lifestyle. Mark prefers to spend his free
time by going to the races.
Mark
does not bother a lot about records, whereas
Steve does. Steve loves a challenge and is not
scared to have a word or two with the opposition
where as Mark is casual, prefers to be on his own
self, if he is batting or even when he is
standing at second slip, a position which he owns
by right.
Steve
cares about his performance and does not mind
showing it. Every Cricket lover knows that
even Mark is as serious about his performances
but he just does not show it.
Favourite book : Reading
Marvin.K.Mooney to my daughter (Dr. Seuss)
What motives you to keep playing?
: "Pride in the performance and
staying one step ahead of the opposition. Winning
is always more enjoyable than losing!"
At
the toss, Steve invariably says "Heads,
please. Thank You" instead of just yelling out
"heads" as all others do!
Steve
Waugh was Glenn McGrath's best man at his wedding
in 1999
Since his first
tough tour as captain - the 2-2 series in the
Caribbean last year - Waugh seems to have adopted
a policy of enlivening every media conference he
gives with a witty line.
Yesterday, when
it was suggested to him that he would surely bowl
first if he won the toss this morning, Waugh
said: "Ah, we'll see how we go, but
there's a fair chance." Then, as quick as a
flash, he added: "I shouldn't be giving out
that information anyway."
Waugh
said the team's motto for this summer is "to
be the best we can be on and off the field".
And every
Australian player knows which player best
represents that slogan.
After
the 1998 tour of India, Steve called Bev and
others in the family to show the slides he had
shot at the village of lepers in Calcutta. "It
was 9 p.m. He made us sit in his living room and
explained the slides one by one", says Bev. Then he said, 'I don’t
want anyone in this room to complain not having
anything material ever again in life.’
Stephen leads a
spartan life and wants his daughter Rosalie and
new born son Austin to grow up as compassionate
people. "He doesn’t want his
little girl to get spoilt with too many things.
And he doesn’t like getting too many
material things for himself. That is what draws
him to India. India is different for him," says Bev. "He
has got stumps with dirt from India. He doesn’t
want them washed and wants the dirt on it to be
lefty free. He owes his World Cup victory to the
blessings of the children of Udayan Foundation
whom he looks after."
Bev says that
lifting the World Cup was a message for everybody
that it is possible to be down and out and then
lift oneself to impossible heights.
"All those children back in India can now
celebrate because they had prayed for him to win
it. They had sent faxes to him that he can now
help them more. His ultimate goal is to eradicate
leprosy. And I would want to be with him in India
helping him out," says one of cricket’s best
mothers.
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