“He who works with his
hands is a laborer.
He who works with his
hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his
hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
- Francis of Assisi
The Australian team set foot on West Indian soil under Mark
Taylor for the Frank Worrell Trophy. Richie Richardson, the West Indian
skipper, said it was the weakest Australian team ever to tour the West Indies.
Australia lost the ODI series badly and Richardson’s remarks
seemed to ring true. And when Craig McDermott was ruled out before the start of
the Test series, Taylor’s hopes of winning the Frank Worrell Trophy received a
major blow. Everyone’s faith in the young bowling attack and batting line up of
Australia was wavering and a heavy thrashing was on the cards.
But as soon as the Test series commenced, the world
witnessed something special.
To everyone’s astonishment, Australia won the first Test at
Barbados and took a 1-0 lead in the series. The second Test at Antigua was
washed out. West Indies staged a comeback in the third Test at Port of Spain, a
Test famous for the face-off between Steve Waugh and Ambrose.
The fourth Test was at Kingston, Jamaica. In those days, a
Test match in any part of the West Indies was a carnival. Loud music and a
noisy crowd made it tough for the visiting team to perform well. On a bright
sunny day, Jamaica’s Kingston Stadium was buzzing with anticipation.
“The crowd was an important factor. They were noisy, knew
their cricket, and could be intimidating if you gave them room. It was a full
house in Kingston and the bowl was resounding in anticipation of a West Indies
victory,” Paul Reiffel had said.
The game begins
Richardson won the toss and elected to bat first.
Reiffel dismissed Stuart Williams for a duck but Lara and
Richardson took the attack to Australia and cracked boundaries to draw roars
from the crowd. A partnership of 103 threatened Taylor’s plans and to change
the course of the game, he introduced Warne into the attack.
The majestic leggie struck immediately by dismissing Lara.
The West Indian innings then lost momentum as they struggled to handle the
disciplined bowling of Australia. Richardson scored a brilliant hundred, but he
lacked support at the other end as his side were all out for 265 in the first
innings.
Australia's reply was shaky. The hostile bowling of the Windies
pacemen sent jitters through Australia’s batting line-up and at one point, they
were reeling at 73 for 3.
The stage was set for
Steve Waugh
As soon as Michael Slater was dismissed by Courtney Walsh,
Steve Waugh joined his twin brother Mark at the crease. Ambrose, Walsh, Winston
and Kenny Benjamin were pumped up and ran in to bowl like bloodthirsty black
panthers. They delivered well-directed short balls on a regular basis while the
close in fielders tried their best to affect Waugh's concentration.
But Waugh was fully focused and had no intention of getting
carried away. He handled the first-ball bouncer masterfully and remained calm
and composed despite all the sledging around him. He and his brother Mark
decided to give the fast bowlers the first hour and just keep their wickets
intact much to the bowlers’ frustration.
Steve then unfurled his back-foot stroke-play – drives,
flicks and ruthless cuts silenced the talkative close-in fielders and
vociferous crowd. He was offered a reprieve by Courtney Brown while batting on
42 and after that, was simply unstoppable.
According to Reiffel, “Steve had made up his mind to bat and
bat, to stay out there and anchor the proceedings. In the process, he copped a
lot of blows on his arms, chest, and ribs. When he came back to the dressing
room at the end of day two, we could see the spots and bruises on his body, but
as long as he was out there in the middle he just kept going at them.
“I remember when I walked in at No. 9, he didn't say
anything to me, but then he didn't need to. We all pretty much knew that we
just had to support him.
“Steve was in a trance. Two incidents illustrate this. The
first was the famous confrontation with Ambrose in the third Test, where Steve
told him to just bowl and Ambrose had to be dragged away by Richie Richardson.
“The second was when a security guard was found rifling
through Steve's kit bag in the wee hours of the morning on the second day. That
incident too didn't affect his concentration. It all it all just went to show
how strong a character he was”.
While the close-in fielders expected Steve to have a go at
them, they were forced to look on with frustration as he chatted only with his
brother at the end of each over.
In his famous book, Out
of My Comfort Zone, Steve wrote, “During this partnership Mark and I
conversed at the end of every over — short messages of reassurance such as
‘Keep working hard’, ‘don’t relax now’, or, ‘They look like they’re beginning
to tire’. By the end of the day, we had assumed control of the game and the
Waugh twins had lived out a backyard dream by peeling off centuries and
combining a double-hundred stand.”
Steve Waugh’s concentration was unwavering. His eyes, while
facing the ball, hinted that he was only concerned about the position of the
bowler’s wrist and the seam and nothing else. His main job was to score runs
and bat the opposition out of the game.
“Between deliveries, I totally tuned out and switched off
from the intensity of the game. The bowler beginning his run-up was the signal
for me to move into ‘semi-awareness’ mode, watching but not being absorbed by
the action.”
Memorable double ton
on May Day
Carl Hooper’s spin bowling had resulted in many important
breakthroughs for West Indies. On that day, he helped to break the mammoth
stand between Steve and Mark Waugh as Mark was dismissed after scoring 126, but
he still found it impossible to dislodge the other Waugh.
Steve, batting on 196, received a fullish delivery from
Hooper which he pushed for four to deep fine leg. It was his first ever double
hundred in Test cricket and it took a while for him to realise the significance
of this knock. He raised his bat towards the dressing room while some of the
Australians in the crowd invaded the pitch to surround their hero.
According to Justin Langer, “[Steve] showed he was prepared
to put it all on the line, in the toughest conditions ... against probably the
best fast bowler of our time. To stand up to him [Ambrose] and go toe to toe,
it gave us a huge boost.”
Steve was the last man out and returned to the pavilion a
hero.
His fighting knock helped Australia take a massive lead and
after a rest day on May 2nd, the Aussies knocked off the West Indies in double
quick time to win the Frank Worrell Trophy for the first time since 1977-78.
West Indies’ 15-year undefeated streak in Test series was
over and a mighty kingdom fell in front of a passionate crowd at Kingston.
Note: This article has been published at Sportskeeda on 02/05/2017 SK Flashback: Steve Waugh’s special double ton on May Day
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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