Steve Waugh - Australia's new captain? (5 February 1999)

5 February 1999

Steve Waugh - Australia's new captain?

Elmo Rodrigopulle

MELBOURNE, Thursday - The retirement of Mark Taylor as captain of Australia, the man who was named 'Australian of the Year', has left the Aussie cricket would guessing as to the next captain will be.

As for me, there is none other who deserves to be the next captain, but Stephen Waugh, twin brother of Mark. When I was in Australia in 1989 covering Sri Lanka's tour, the way Steve Waugh was performing, made me tip him as the next captain of Australia when Allan Border decided to quit. But the selectors of that time gave their vote to Mark Taylor who did not let them down and took Australia to being what they are today, the best Test cricket playing nation in the world.

Taylor who was the 39th Australian captain, who says he lost the urge to play after the Ashes victory against England in Adelaide, has decided to quit when at the top to spend more time with his wife and two sons. With his retirement Taylor will not be lost to the game altogether. He will be a commentator on TV and radio.

The highwater mark in Taylor's career was when he made 334 not out in a Test against Pakistan and instead of going on to beat Brian Lara's Test record of 375 decided to declare his side's innings closed and sacrifice the record, preferring to go for a win than for an individual batting record. To him being classed alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Australia's and the world's greatest batsman and the likes of which the world will never see, was the greatest and the moment he will treasure most in his life.

Enough has been said about the efforts of Taylor and much more would be said as the days roll by, but now the topic in all Australia is: who will Taylor's successor be?

The names of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh have also been tossed into the hat. But to make anyone of them captain will be to add a black mark to their cricket which has a chequered history.

Warne and Waugh were involved with the bookie mafia and tarnished, not only the image of the game, but also that of the country. It is said that Australia went into mourning when the Warne-Waugh bookie affair surfaced.

Australia's next tour is to the Caribbean and the selectors will name the squad on Monday and the captain next Friday. Warne and Waugh are not lacking support for the captaincy. But the gut feeling is that Steve Waugh with his ability to inspire the team when the chips are down, will finally be named to be Australia's 40th captain.

Here is what the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard and other cricketers think of Mark Taylor appearing in the 'Daily Telegraph'.

'He struggled through a period of personal batting adversity with tremendous courage and kept his good humour and his good spirit and never took his eye off the responsibility of leading the Australian team - John Howard, Prime Minister.

'Mark Taylor is the best captain I have played against. He will be a big loss to Australia and world cricket' - Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka captain.

'I think Mark was a strong leader and he got the best out of his players but at the same time he gave you room to be yourself and play your own way out on the field' - Stephen Waugh.

'It has been a pleasure playing under him. I would rate him alongside Ian Chappell, Ritchie Benaud and Allan Border as our best captains of all time - Shane Warne.

'Well, it will be a little bit different, there won't be the chewing in the right ear as much as there has been - Ian Healy.

'He is the best captain I have played with or against ... He's the most tactically astute, not afraid to try things out. He has a great cricketing sense' - Alec Stewart.

'We should be celebrating a great career rather than mourning the loss of someone' - David Boon.

'I think the timings just about perfect, he's done pretty well everything that he could have hoped to do on the field both as player and as a captain' - Greg Chappell.

'I think he will be remembered as a man who brought dignity back into what has become a professional and commercial sport - Kim Hughes.

'Mark Taylor played 104 Tests for Australia, batting 186 times, unbeaten 13 times with 334 not out as his highest. He made 19 centuries and 40 scores of over 50. He captained Australia 50 times winning 26 Tests, losing 13 and drawing 11.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)