2) Steve Waugh made his professional debut with the New South Wales team in the 1984-1985 season
3) The Waugh twins played cricket and football at a young age and managed to maintain a balance between the two. In Australia, you would find most sportsmen dabbling in different sports before choosing one as a career. The represented Sydney Croatia football team as youngsters before they shifted their focus to cricket
4) Steve Waugh came of age in the 1989 edition of the Ashes in England. The Aussies clinched the Ashes series 4-0 with the victory marking the end of the reconstruction of the Australian side. Waugh smashed two of his 32 centuries in the series as the Aussies under Allan Border, basked in glory
5) Cricket has seen a few pairs of twins, but the Waughs are the first ones to play Test cricket. The only other pair to play Test cricket are Hamish and James Marshall of New Zealand, who are identical twins, unlike Steve and Mark Waugh
6) In the 1990-91 Ashes Down Under,Steve Waugh was dropped from the Test team. The man who took his place in the side was his brother twin Mark Waugh, The younger Waugh celebrated the occasion by scoring a century on debut. However, later in 1991, Waugh returned to the Test team and remained a fixture ever since
7) Steve Waugh was named Australian of the Year in 2004 for his philanthropic work, and inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in front of his home fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2010
8) Steve Waugh was a youngster in 1987 when Allan Border’s team went on to win the World Cup in India. Tom Moody, a young all-rounder from Western Australia, was also a part of the side. In 1999, Steve and Moody were the only two surviving members of the 1987 team that clinched the World Cup in England
9) There isn’t anything in cricket that Waugh hasn’t seen. Waugh has won and lost the Ashes, won and lost World Cups, beaten and has been beat by the West Indies. His experience classifies him as a ‘once in a lifetime cricketer’
10) In 1998, a strong Australia A side featuring Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Brendon Julian, Adam Dale, Jason Gillespie and Andrew Bichel played a few games against Ireland. Interestingly, Waugh played for Ireland in that series against some of his own international teammates. Waugh played one First-Class match and five limited-overs games. Waugh scored only one fifty
11) Steve Waugh took over the captaincy from Mark Taylor in 1999. His first assignment was the World Cup in England, a tournament which they won
12) In 1979, Andrew Hilditch became the first Australian and the second man in Test cricket to be out handled the ball. Steve Waugh entered the unwanted league when Steve deflected a ball away with his glove during the Chennai Test against India in 2001. In a reflex motion, he tried to steer the ball away with his gloves and the Indians appealed
13) Having made his debut against India at the MCG in 1985, Waugh called time on his international career against the Indians in 2004 the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground. Waugh was carried around the stadium, draped in the Australian flag as he did
14) Steve Waugh led the Australian team in its era of dominance and his record reflects that. Steve has the 1999 World Cup in his cabinet to show, but his 71.92 percent success rate in Test cricket as skipper is enviable. On that mark, Steve is ahead of Ricky Ponting, who won about 62 percent of his Tests as captain. Waugh captained Australia 57 times in Test cricket and won 41 of those encounters. To top it all, Australia had won 16 consecutive Tests during one of their successful runs
15) Steve Waugh finally retired at the end of the 2003-04 series against India, bowing out with 80, his last shot an untypical heave to backward square leg
16) Steve Waugh was known for his grit and fight through his career. Be it standing up to Curtly Ambrose or fashioning that famous knock against South Africa in the 1999 World Cup, his remarkable character came to the fore. In the Ashes 2001, Steve was injured in the third Test even as Australia won. Steve missed the fourth Test but stayed on to play the fifth despite being advised months of rest. Waugh’s wife asked him to stay on and lift the urn in England. Steve managed to get himself ready and smashed a ton in the fifth Test at The Oval. The picture of him diving to get his ton and raising his bat is one of the most iconic memories in recent times
17) The Waugh twins played their last One-Day International (ODI), First-Class game and List A game together. Both were dropped after the tri-series Down Under in 2002, where they played their last ODI against South Africa at Perth. In 2004, their last First-Class game came when New South Wales played Queensland a few days after their final List A appearance against Tasmania
18) Steve Waugh was awarded the Australian Sports Medal on 14 July 2000
19) On 3 February 2009 Steve Waugh became the 30th cricketer inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
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