Cricket - Steve Waugh's Ten Greatest Moments

Steve Waugh Retires-26 November, 2003

Steve Waugh, the most successful Test skipper in the history of the game of cricket, has announced his retirement from international competition after the upcoming series with India.

Waugh, the most capped player in the sport's history and its second highest run-scorer after a Test career spanning 19 years, said Wednesday he had advised Cricket Australia of his intention to end his international career after the fourth Test in January.

"The upcoming Sydney Test will be my last for Australia should I be selected to play," the Sydney-born 38-year-old batsman told a packed news conference.

He said his present form of fitness suggested he could play on, but added: "All good things must come to an end and I believe Sydney is a perfect place to finish."

Waugh had been expected to push on to try to achieve the elusive goal of a series victory in India, but said preferred to end his Test career in front of his home crowd in Sydney.

Steve Waugh's Ten Greatest Moments

In his 18-year international career, Steve Waugh has made dozens of brilliant knocks. But which ten have been the best? 

177* v England, Old Trafford, 1989

Once upon a time, believe it or not, Waugh was vulnerable. After 26 Tests he was averaging 30 and was yet to hit the first of his 32 hundreds. He even knew what it felt like to lose to England. Then something clicked. Waugh began the 1989 Ashes series with a pristine unbeaten 177 at Headingley to set up a 210-run win. It was the start of a patch of deepest purple, during which he hit 393 runs without being dismissed. England have been sick of the sight of him ever since.

164 v South Africa, Adelaide, 1993-94

It was the third Test of a tight series, and South Africa led 1-0. This was pressure stuff, which is how Waugh likes it. His 164 against a new-ball attack of Allan Donald and Fanie de Villiers was followed by figures of 18-7-26-4 (Andrew Hudson, Jonty Rhodes, Daryll Cullinan and Brian McMillan) as Australia pulled off a 191-run victory to square the series.

200 v West Indies, Kingston, 1994-95

West Indies had held the Frank Worrell Trophy for 17 years, four more than the current Aussies have clung on to the Ashes. It was 1-1 going into the fourth and final Test in Jamaica, and Waugh was in no mood to be denied again. He ground out a double-century - still his highest Test score - in nine-and-a-quarter hours, his twin Mark hit 126 and Australia squeezed home by an innings and 53. They have not lost to West Indies since.

160 v South Africa, Johannesburg, 1996-97

South Africa had scored 302 and then made early inroads into the Australian batting line-up. Waugh's response? To break South African hearts by batting all day with Greg Blewett, who hit 214. Their partnership of 385 was an Australian record for any wicket against South Africa, and laid the foundations for an innings-and-196-run win.

108 and 116 v England, Old Trafford, 1997

Australia, for once, were losing an Ashes series, and headed for the third Test at Manchester in a state of shock at 1-0 down. On a pitch where only four other players made even a half-century, Waugh turned in a 24-carat performance to grind England down and drag Australia back into the series. Needless to say, they went on to regain the Ashes. Again.

157 v Pakistan, Rawalpindi, 1998-99

Australia hadn't won a Test, let alone a series, in Pakistan since Richie Benaud's visit 39 years earlier. And when they slumped to 28 for 3 in the first Test in reply to Pakistan's 269, things weren't looking good. But Waugh's back is happiest up against a wall, and his stand of 198 with Michael Slater (108) put Pakistan in their place. Australia went on to make 513, dismiss Pakistan for 145 and take a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish - another slice of history for the Waugh pantry.

120* v South Africa, Headingley, 1999 World Cup

If Waugh's one-day record (three centuries in 325 matches) was surprisingly average, then his century in a must-win Super Six game against Australia's nearest rivals was anything but. Not content with taking Australia through to the semi-finals - where an even greater game awaited them - Waugh also spawned one of the great sledges, apocryphal or otherwise. Famously dropped early in his innings by Herschelle Gibbs, who spilt the ball in the act of celebrating a catch, Waugh reputedly said, "You've just dropped the World Cup". He was right, too.

2nd Test v West Indies, Perth, 2000-01

Waugh only made 26 in an innings win, but it was the result that mattered. This was Australia's 12th consecutive Test win under Waugh's captaincy, beating West Indies' own record under Clive Lloyd. It was the culmination of years of hard work successive captains. Allan Border made Australia tough again. Mark Taylor turned them into consistent winners. Waugh convinced them they couldn't lose. Under him the Baggy Green became, like the All Blacks' haka, a psychological weapon. The record was extended to 16 wins before VVS Laxman spoiled the fun at Calcutta.

157* v England, The Oval, 2001

This was the game where Waugh rubbed salt into England's gaping wound, as well as tending to his own. He had been stretchered off after tearing a muscle during the third Test at Trent Bridge, but showed superhuman powers of recovery to play in the final game in south London. Virtually on one leg, Waugh put mind over matter to set up another monstrous win. Mike Atherton's final Test will go down as one of Waugh's finest.

156* v Bangladesh, Darwin, 2003-04

Bear with us here. Whether he cared to admit it or not, one of Waugh's many motivations was a spanking set of stats, and his innings here filled one of the few holes in his CV. It made him the first man to score 150 or more against all other nine Test nations. Now just one goal remains. If he can score 515 runs in the four games against India early next year, he will become the leading runscorer in Test history, surpassing Allan Border's 11,174. Any takers?