Mark Edward Waugh
Mark Edward Waugh AM (born 2 June 1965) is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers ever to play the game. Waugh is often nicknamed “Junior” as he is younger than his twin brother Steve by a few minutes. Dean Waugh, another of Mark’s brothers, is also a cricketer, having played first-class and a cricket in Australia.
Key achievements:
Waugh was primarily a right-handed batsman, batting in the No.4 position in Test matches, and was also a handy medium pace bowler, who changed to an off-spin bowler after back injuries restricted him.[1] He is regarded as one of the best slip fielders ever to play cricket,[2] and held the world record for most Test catches by a non-wicketkeeper until Rahul Dravid broke it in 2009.
He began as an all-rounder in the Australian ODI team, but he later focused on batting and progressed to opening the batting, where he excelled and became Australias leading one day runscorer. His three centuries at the 1996 Cricket World Cup made him the only batsman to ever achieve this feat, and a fourth century in the 1999 tournament made him the only Australian to score more than 1000 runs in World Cup competition and to score four centuries. He became the leading Australian run-scorer and century maker in ODIs during the 1999 tournament.
Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game, and his stylish strokeplay was likened to that of Stan McCabe, Alan Kippax, Victor Trumper, Charlie Macartney and Greg Chappell. Following his debut Test century, Australian coach Bob Simpson compared Waugh’s elegance to that of Archie Jackson. Mark Taylor called Waugh the “best-looking leg-side player I’ve seen in my time. . . . Anything drifting into his pads is hit beautifully. He was regularly in the top 10 rated batsman from the mid-1990s to 21st century. He was well known for his general mastery of batting when facing spin bowling. However, his facile grace also lead to accusations that he was a “lazy” batsman who was vulnerable to soft dismissals. Waugh is the younger fraternal twin brother of Steve Waugh,with whom he played for most of his career and also under his captaincy. They hold the record for the most Test and ODI matches in which siblings appeared together.
Fielding:
Waugh took a record 181 catches in Test matches, the second highest for a non wicket-keeper. He primarily fielded in the second slip position whilst a fast bowler was operating. He would field at silly point whilst a spin bowler was operating, and then at first slip for a spinner following the retirement of Mark Taylor. He would also field at mid-wicket or short mid-wicket when he was not required in a close catching position, and also during ODIs.
