Blast from the past - Waugh twins end the reign of Calypso kings (4th Test, Aus vs WI, 1995)

A little more than 48 years ago, cricket’s famous pair of twins, Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh were born. Steve, the elder brother of the two by just 4 minutes, was an embodiment of real Australian grit. His twin brother, Mark, with that long blonde hair and charismatic looks, was a Mozart with a willow in hand. There wasn’t anything common between the twins in cricketing terms but both of them made bowlers bend to their knees, and brought joy to millions of cricket fans around the world with their exploits on the cricket field.

Rewind in time back to April 30th of 1995, the day on which Mark and Steve came together to rewrite history books by scripting a wonderful partnership that will be etched in everyone’s memory. The partnership wasn’t just about 231 runs they put up for the third wicket, as it also broke the spine of a great West Indies team.

For 15 long years, when those mighty bowlers from West Indies bowled, they seemed to have the carnassial teeth and sharp claws of a lion to tear apart opposition ranks. In fact, just a mere stare from the giants of Caribbean sent batsmen quivering for cover. But with sheer warrior-like tenacity, Waugh twins passed the trial by fire at Sabina Park in 94/95 with flying colours. The unforgettable partnership between Waugh twins also paved the way for Australia to upset the apple-cart, and defeat the Windies in their own den for the first time in almost two decades.

Backdrop

Going into the Test series against the pillaging Windies side in 94/95, Australia were clearly the underdogs. They had suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat in the one-day series against the Windies. In the one-day series, their trump card, the Wizard of Oz, Warne was rendered impotent on relatively smaller grounds of the Caribbean. To make matters worse, they lost their spearhead, McDermott, and the boomerang bending swing-merchant, Fleming, to injuries. Last but not the least, their inspirational coach, Bob Simpson, fell sick. On the backdrop of so many problems, no one gave them even an iota of a chance.

The battle-hardened cricketers from Down Under though, made critics eat humble-pie. In the first Test, the inexperienced pace troika of McGrath, Julian and Reiffel ran-amok to help Australia to come through with a facile win. The Windies weren’t going to give up their hold on Frank Worrell trophy so easily, as they came back roaring with a thumping win on a treacherous track at Trinidad in the third Test. The king of mass destruction, Ambrose, finally woke up from his deep slumber, and ripped apart the much-vaunted Australian batting line-up in the third Test with a fiery spell. Being a cricket enthusiast, just for a moment, I thought the mental scars of losing a closely fought series against the West Indies in 92/93 had reopened in the minds of Australian batsmen. But the Waugh twins had other ideas.

So folks, it is time for some lights, camera and action, as we look back at the monumental partnership between Waugh twins at Sabina Park.

Australian bowlers hunt like a pack of wolves

West Indies’ captain, Richie Richardson, won the toss and promptly elected to bat first on what seemed like a decent strip for batting at Sabina Park. Australian pacers though, hunted like a pack of wolves, as they ruthlessly dismantled the Windies batting line-up. The Windies captain, Richardson played like a lonesome atlas, but even he couldn’t take Windies out of choppy waters. They were bundled out for a rather paltry total of 265.

West Indian fast bowlers make their presence felt

Just like they did it zillion times before, the Windies bowlers came out firing on all cylinders. In particular, Ambrose and Walsh gave a torrid time to the Australian top-order. It was a rather turgid performance by the Australian top-order batsmen, and they struggled to seize the initiative.

At 73 for 3, when Steve joined his twin brother Mark in the middle, Aussies were certainly in a spot of bother. To make it more intriguing, the Windies bowlers decided to send down a barrage of bouncers at the Waugh twins. In 90/91 and 92/93, the mettlesome Steve Waugh had found the short stuff too hot to handle. But the Windies think-tank had an outdated approach towards dealing with Steve Waugh. With time, he had put that pull shot in the back-burner. Instead of playing an aggressive shot, he had learnt the art of leaving the short ball.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mark Waugh was known as a gambler. He had the tendency to play too many risky shots. During his younger days, he could play gorgeous swivel pulls, and even play jaw-dropping ramp strokes. But at the same time, he used to also get out to short pitch bowling. A case in point being in the 92/93 series on a trampoline wicket at WACA, where Junior virtually gifted his wicket away on a platter, while attempting a risky upper-cut against the fiery Bishop.

Mark Waugh breaks free

Just before the lunch session though, Mark Waugh decided it was time for him play with his typical gambling instincts, as he played a few rasping cut shots on the rise. At that time, it seemed like a slight shift of momentum in favour of Australia. Here was one batsman who was prepared to take the Windies quicks head-on.

After the lunch break, what transpired was a glorious exhibition of stunning improvisation, interfused with silken smooth orthodox strokes by Mark Waugh. Watching the match with weary eyes, well past mid-night, I had to rub my eyes several times in disbelief, as it was exhilarating stuff on display. I vividly remember, in his typical languid style, Mark Waugh nonchalantly playing a lissome flick by taking it from off-stump to send the ball scurrying to the boundary with precise metre of timing and placement. I can only pity the bowler who bowled that delivery – Winston Benjamin.

Mark Waugh went one step further, when he repeatedly took the mickey out of, the marauding Walsh especially with those ramp shots. Walsh perhaps got annoyed with it, and bowled a quick bouncer which followed Mark Waugh all the way. The gambler that Mark Waugh was, he still had the chutzpah to play the ramp shot, and it sailed past the slip fielders for yet another boundary. His detractors may say that he got lucky, as he almost took his eyes off the ball to play that short delivery from Walsh. But I reckon Mark Waugh just had preternatural hand-eye co-ordination. On that day with beguiling imagination, he enchanted the cricket loving public, and reduced Richardson’s well thought-out field placings to a lottery. He raced to 82 after facing a mere 111 deliveries. After making a spine-tingling 126, Mark Waugh finally got out.

Steve Waugh’s warrior-like tenacity comes to the fore

If Mark Waugh’s batting was a glorious artwork of a master painter painting cuts, flicks and pulls, then the hard-nosed Steve Waugh played with sheer guts and downright dogged determination. It is difficult to vividly remember Steve Waugh’s knock, as it lacked the flair and the panache of his twin brother. But that never bothered him, as his only aim that day was to brick-by-brick construct a large edifice.

Steve Waugh played with such determination that it seemed like he could wait all day long for the Windies to bowl short and wide. As soon as the Windies pacers got it marginally wrong, Steve would pounce on it with rapier-like cut shots. Even after Mark Waugh lost his wicket, Steve continued to ruthlessly dismantle Windies pacers. He even shepherded his young partner, Blewett, from the Windies quicks. He made a well-deserved double-hundred. What made this partnership between Waugh twins a sight to behold was the fact that both of them played with contrasting styles.

Australian pacers and Shane Warne took advantage of the mammoth score on the board, as they cleaned up West Indies for a paltry total second time around too. The entire Australian team must have celebrated long and hard that night, as it was an emphatic and a historic victory. The champagne would have certainly flowed liberally in the dressing room. The abiding image of Mark Taylor holding the Frank Worrell trophy would be etched in one’s memory forever.

The critics may like to point out that the spearhead of West Indies’ pace attack, Ambrose, suffered from a few niggling injuries in that match. But one can’t take the credit away from Waugh twins, as that 231-run partnership was just magnificent to watch. It was a significant moment in the history of test cricket as well. It ended the reign of Calypso Kings, as the undisputed champions of Test cricket.