Steve Waugh's debut in International Cricket

Steve Waugh is recognised as one of the best players of his generation

The traditional Boxing Day Test in 1985-86 was when Steve Waugh made his debut for Australia. The opponents were India and it was the second Test of the series with the first Test ending in a draw. The 20 year old from New South Wales was picked up as a batting all rounder and was slotted to come in at number 6 in the first innings. His first ever innings lasted just 32 deliveries from which he made 12. Not the ideal start, but he did contribute with the ball by picking up the wickets of Ravi Shastri and Syed Kirmani during India’s reply. In the second innings, he was moved up the order by one slot, but couldn’t capitalise on this chance as he made just 5 runs. The match ended in a draw and it took Waugh almost an year to establish himself as he scored some crucial runs in the Ashes at home.

His first Test century came only in 1989, but by the time he ended his career, he had 32 to his name and had played the most number of Tests (168). A few days after his Test debut, he also made his ODI debut against feisty neighbours New Zealand. Unfortunately because of rain he didn’t get to bat but did pick up his first ODI wicket. He went on to represent Australia in 325 ODI matches in total with the highlight being the captain of the successful 1999 World Cup winning team. He ended with 7500 runs in the 50 over format and close to 11,000 in the Test format. He played his final match for Australia against India at the SCG during the 2003-04 series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy and scored a memorable 80 in his final innings.

He is well respected all over the cricketing world, and has a twin brother (Mark Waugh) who also had a successful career for Australia. Apart from winning the World Cup, he was also the captain of the side when it won 16 consecutive Test matches. He was named the ‘Australian of the year’ in 2004 for his philanthropic work and was inducted in the ICC’s Cricket Hall Of Fame in 2010 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.