I'm making this Steve Waugh appreciation thread because the Tendulkar cult keeps yapping about Sachin's 1990's average, even though Tendy averaged only 49 outside the subcontinent in the 90s, and over 20 percent of those runs came from beating up SL on flat tracks (in 13 tests, in which he wasnt even the leading Indian scorer).
Steve Waugh, in contrast, averaged 61 with 23 centuries from 1993 to 2001. His away average for the same period was 62...
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...pan;template=results;type=allround;view=match
...and he averaged in the 60s vs all teams, except Sri Lanka, whom he averaged in the 100s, and India, who he averaged 49. What's staggering is that Waugh averaged in the mid 40s vs Pakistan. I can't find anybody else in this era averaging this high vs the deadly Pak bowling attack.
And remember, Waugh didn't only face and do well vs the Pak attack, he played three series vs tough West Indian attacks. The 95 and 99 WI vs Aus battles were particularly epic, Waugh weathering the storm in 95 and doing even better in 99 (a century and a 199), though Ambrose, Walsh and Lara would steal his thunder.
Steve had Border, Ponting, Boon and Mark Waugh around him for most of his career, always somebody solid surrounding him, which allowed him to drop anchor and play conservatively. He came low down the order, so you'd think he wouldn't have time to get those big centuries, but because his team-mates stuck around, he was able to cash in.
Surprisingly, Waugh averaged 68 vs Alan Donald in 12 tests, with 2 centuries and 4 scores in the 80/90 range. Again, nobody else in this period was doing this well vs Donald. As a comparison, these are Lara and Tendy's stats vs Donald:
Lara's average vs Donald in the 1990s in tests and odis = 32 and 52
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in the 1990s in tests and odis = 32 and 23
Lara's average vs Donald in the 1990s in test's home and away = 40 and 31
Lara's average vs Donald in the 1990s in odis home and away = 136 and 38.5
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in the 1990s in test's home and away = 17 and 36
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in the 1990s in odis home and away = 28 and 21
Lara's average vs Donald in 2000s in tests and odi = 36 and 50.28
Lara's average vs Donald in 2000s in tests and odis at home = 36 and 43
Lara's average vs Donald in 2000s in tests and odis away = - and 68.4
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in 2000s in tests and odi = 36 and 27
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in 2000s in test and odis at home = 36 and -
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in 2000s in tests and odi away = - and 39
Of course a large part of the reason why Waugh was so successful was beacause he was SLOW. The South Africans used to nickname him PAINT, because watching him bat was like watching paint dry. Waugh's strike rate was typically in the 40s, very slow, not very entertaining, but effective against big gun bowlers, who he'd block for hours upon hours and wait for bad balls.
And of course Waugh remains the most successful test captain, winning 72 percent of his games.
His most impressive achievement, though, was putting up with Warnie's squeaky voice for a decade.
Last edited:
