Waugh wants to keep 'right on dancing'

Success sometimes brings its own problems, and the unrelenting climb towards all-time greatness that Steve Waugh's Australians are pursuing has brought concerns for the future. They say that the ageing population is a problem around the world, and it appears to be the case for the Australian side, at least in the minds of the selectors.

It was ironic that the retirement of older players like Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, and the loss of players to rebel tours to South Africa, resulted in the last weak period of Australian cricket in the mid 1980s. Waugh emerged from that trough when the Australians were beaten, horror of horrors, at home by New Zealand.

Waugh, first capped in the summer of 1985-86, is now riding beside Father Time on the front seat of the cricket stagecoach, and the next big bump could tip him out of his seat. He has reportedly been told that he cannot expect the certainty of selection during Australia's home season. Waugh has not responded to the claims.

For the moment he holds the cards. As was seen from his outstanding century against England at Sydney last summer, he has immense support from the Australian public. They have accepted his absence from the one-day side, but judging by the reception the crowd gave him as he walked out to bat at the WACA Ground in Perth, there is a large amount of public sentiment with him in his cause to make his farewell appearances in India next year.

Given his form, there is little chance that the Australian selectors would win a case at the Employment Court, if selection matters were ever to be decided in that forum. In his last 10 Tests, since the third Test against England last summer, Waugh has scored 806 runs at an average of 100.75. Form, for the moment, isn't really an issue.

Some of the creakiness in the Australian machine became apparent at Perth when Jason Gillespie and Stuart MacGill were unable to bowl during most of Zimbabwe's second innings. Better equipped sides would have used that to their advantage and saved the match. In the end, the Zimbabweans were only a decent rain shower away from denying Australia victory.

But there was something symbolic in the fact that it was Waugh who took the catch that finally ended the match, much later than the Australians would have liked. However, his inings of 78, which seemed destined to provide him with that first Test century at Perth, also proved to be vital in the final victory as it provided solidity at a time when Zimbabwe could have made a breakthrough. They didn't, but there was also an assuredness about Waugh's intent that could not be understated.

There are also a couple of landmarks which are within striking distance: Waugh needs only 576 more runs to pass Allan Border and become the highest run-scorer in Test history, while his 32 centuries are only two short of Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34. These are realistic goals for a fit Waugh, and goals that most Australians would see as fair reward for a career so notably played for Australia. But sentiment has never replaced form in cricket selection, especially in Australia.

The politics of the Australian scene promise to be just as intriguing as the cricket in the weeks ahead. Perhaps Steve Waugh might start whistling "Mr Bojangles" more often when the selectors are around; after all it was Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson who once said: "I won't be old till my feet hurt, and they only hurt when I don't let 'em dance enough, so I'll keep right on dancing."