November 27, 2003
DRIVEN TO THE FENCE
Wonderful piece on Steve Waugh from Frank Devine:
The gifts - of quickness of hand, eye and feet, muscular co-ordination and preternatural calm at the hundreds of climactic moments in a day's international cricket - must have been there for him to have achieved so much. But my intense admiration for Steve Waugh is based on a perception of him as the most completely self-made man to reach the Himalayan heights in a sport.
Got a call yesterday from The Australian asking if I’d like to write something about Waugh’s retirement ... but Frank's taken me out of the game. I'll have to rob him to make up for the cash he's cost me.
Posted by Tim Blair at November 27, 2003 11:15 AMYou know, I don't mean to carp, especially about such a beautifully-written piece, but would anyone else say that Waugh's "signature stroke" was a "flailing uppercut" over slips?
I would have said that his signature shot was either the back foot cover drive or the flick off the pads to leg, both of which he almost always plays along the ground. Maybe the slog-sweep in later years, after he picked it up on the sub-continent.
I can only think of a handful of times he deliberately hit the ball over slips, and most of them were in unusual circumstances.
Did I mention that I want to punch out Trevor Hohns?
Posted by: Mork at November 27, 2003 at 11:57 AMSteve Waugh is the best exponent of the leg glance in the modern game.
A 'flailing uppercut"? - words fail me.
Posted by: Pedro the Ignorant at November 27, 2003 at 01:05 PMI've got tape of Waugh playing that shot several times in one innings against the West Indies back in '95.
Posted by: tim at November 27, 2003 at 01:27 PMTim
Does he pull his ‘strangulated hernia’ smile when he reaches his ton on that tape?
Posted by: Pig Head Sucker at November 27, 2003 at 02:08 PMMaybe you could interview another great cricketer from the past like Ian Chapell instead. Ask him what he thinks of your hero Howard.
Go on Tim here's your chance to slag off Chapell for not being on the right team.
Posted by: crock of tim at November 27, 2003 at 02:22 PMI just reckon he could lighten up a bit.
I miss the days when talent was more important that discipline.
S. Waugh represents that change to me.
Posted by: Pig Head Sucker at November 27, 2003 at 02:26 PMWTF does a eulogy to the great Steve Waugh have to do with Ian Chappell's (2 P's, 2 L's)views of John Howard.
Posted by: Mark Bristow at November 27, 2003 at 04:35 PMI think Steve is (shock! horror!) a labour voter.
Posted by: Savvas Jonis at November 27, 2003 at 08:29 PMI think Steve is (shock! horror!) a labour voter.
... and future Labor parliamentarian.
At which point, Timmy will always have known that he was a no-good fellow and a shit cricketer to boot.
Posted by: Mork at November 27, 2003 at 08:49 PMI shall always fondly remember these immortal words that he has left us:
"This room is full of cockheads"
Ian Chappell doesn't like Steve Waugh any more then he does John Howard. Old grudge there somewhere...
Posted by: Scott Wickstein at November 27, 2003 at 11:47 PMI always thought of Steve Waugh as the Paul Keating of cricket...
- ruthless competitor
- mercurial
- performs best when under pressure
- from Bankstown
- no nonsense and could knock the opposition for six