Player Battles: Steve Waugh vs Mark Taylor

#5 Batting positions

The two were key players for the Australian Test side

Mark Taylor batted for his whole career as an opener, facing the likes of Walsh-Ambrose, Akram-Waqar, in their prime, with the new ball. Each and every one of his 186 innings was played at this very position.

Steve Waugh was a bit flexible with his batting order, even though most of his runs came at lower middle order position of No. 5. Nearly 62% (6754 out of 10927) of his runs were scored at this batting position with an average of 56.28. Even at no. 6, he averaged 51.05 with 3165 runs.

Here is a look at few of their unforgettable innings:

#1 Mark Taylor 334* vs Pakistan at Peshawar, 1998

Playing in the second test match against Pakistan, Taylor decided to declare Australia’s first innings at 599/4 at the start of day 3. This came after Taylor’s amazing unbeatable knock of 334 runs.

He had a chance to go ahead of Don Bradman as the highest individual scorer in an innings for Australia, but, against the wish of his teammates (who actually voted against the declaration), he decided to give his bowlers enough time to bowl Pakistan out twice and thus wrap up the series.

Tubby, as he was called by his teammates, was praised by Bradman himself for this gesture.

#2 Steve Waugh 200 vs West Indies at Kingston, 1995

The fourth and last match of the series, with both the teams tied at 1-1, and the series on the line, Waugh came to crease at no. 5 with Australia in trouble at 73-3. Partnering with his younger brother, he added 231 runs to the total before adding 113 more with Greg Blewett to put Australia in a commanding position with the score of 531.

Australia went on to win this match and the series, thus marking their first win in West Indian soil in 22 years.