Twin peaks prove elusive but Waughs retain their glory (3 January 1999)

3 January 1999

Twin peaks prove elusive but Waughs retain their glory

Ian Chappell

THE Waugh twins have been involved in nearly all of Australia's batting triumphs in the last few years and they were at it again, this time on their favourite stretch of turf, the SCG.

The twins were headed for their second double-century partnership when Steve was beaten in the flight by Peter Such and bowled for 96. It was his third such score in the last 15 months and he has nine scores in all in the nineties at Test level. Add a reasonable conversion of those nineties to his 17 centuries and he should be closing in on Greg Chappell's 24 Test hundreds, which would be appropriate because Steve is a lot like the elegant ex-skipper when it comes to batting.

One former Australian player once said: "If Steve Waugh was playing in my backyard, I'd close the blinds. If Mark was playing on the other side of the world, I'd jump on a plane to watch."

Up until about 12 months ago, I would have agreed with that view, but Steve has become more adventurous early in his innings and his scoring rate has increased markedly. Mark, on the other hand, seems to have become bored with batting less easily and he has eradicated a lot of his soft dismissals. Part of the magic of Mark's batting was to watch him dominating a bowler and then wait to see what extravagance he would indulge in to put a greater degree of difficulty into the exercise.

Usually, it ended in disaster, but you had to admire him for having the nerve to gamble in a game where punters are few and pragmatists are flourishing.

Where Steve thinks like Greg Chappell, Mark bats like him - all-conquering through the on-side with lovely flexible wrist work. Appropriate, then, that in 1993 Greg sought out a London bookmaker and backed Mark to make 20 Test centuries in his career. He would approve of the new Mark Waugh not just because it improves his investment, but also because the perfectionist in him hates to see talent not fully utilised.

Incredibly, the Waugh twins have only once each scored a Test century in the same innings. They were well on their way to doing it for a second time at the SCG when Steve faltered, but we still thanked heavens for the Waughs, because between them they provided two-thirds of the Australian total. That is appropriate, because, for a couple of years, the Waugh twins have been two-thirds of the Australian batting.

Mark Taylor won the toss for Australia for the fifth successive time in the Sydney Test. He also won five out of the six tosses during the 1997 tour of England. The other Australian captains to achieve the feat of winning all the tosses in an Ashes series are M A 'Monty' Noble in 1909 and Lindsay Hassett in 1953 - both in England.

Ian Chappell, in 1973-74, and Graeme Yallop, in 1978-79, both won five out of six tosses while Stanley Jackson is the only English captain to win all five Ashes tosses in the 1905 series.

England captains won 12 consecutive tosses between 1959 and 1961. Peter May called correctly three times and Colin Cowdrey twice in the West Indies and then Cowdrey won all five against South Africa in the following English summer. He then won the first two against Australia the following summer.

Keith Fletcher won five successive tosses during the 1981-82 series in India. Other captains to win all five tosses in a series are: H G Deane (South Africa v England 1927-28); J D C Goddard (West Indies v India 1948-49); Nawab of Pataudi Jr (India v England 1963-64); Gary Sobers (West Indies v England 1966; v New Zealand 1971-72), C H Lloyd (West Indies v India 1982-83).

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)