Almanac Book Review – ‘Mark Waugh: the biography’ by James Knight

 

 

 

 

Mark Waugh: The Biography
by James Knight
First Published in 2002 by Harper Sports
(Revised Edition 2023 shown)

 

Reviewed by Dan Hoban

 

When I opened this book I was expecting the standard sports biography – more a chronology of the subject’s life and career with some childhood photos thrown in and, of course, a statistical record at the end.

To an extent it is. But Mark Waugh is a fascinating study and slightly different to the public persona we know from his media role today.

Englishman James Ormond’s classic sledge, in response to Mark’s own jibe, “at least I’m the best player in my own family” said much about how Mark was perceived – a bit lazy, not exactly the ‘dud’ brother but not  as good as his more prominent older brother, Stephen. Mark, the chubbier of the two, came out of his mother’s womb four minutes behind Stephen, hence the nickname ‘Junior’.

The incidence of twins in Australia  is something like 1 in every 70 pregnancies, so the chances of twins representing their national XI must be truly infinitesimal. Australian cricket has had its share of brothers, notably the Chappells, but twins are rare. Alex and Kate Blackwell, however, trumped the Waughs by being the first set of identical twins to represent their country.

The author naturally draws on the unique ‘twin’ element but mainly focuses on Mark’s own achievements. Inevitably their careers intersect, such as when Mark was first selected for the Test team at the expense of Stephen. They also combined in some record-breaking partnerships for New South Wales which must have made their parents, Rodger and Bev, incredibly proud.

They famously grew up in the working-class Western Sydney suburb of Panania sharing the same bedroom, and clothes, till they were seventeen. Mum was a school teacher and swimming instructor and dad worked for a bank. Their two younger brothers were named Dean and Danny. The brothers all excelled at ball sports like tennis, soccer and, of course, cricket.  Interestingly, East Hills Boys Technology High School also produced another great sportsperson, swimmer Ian Thorpe.

Early in his Sheffield Shield debut season, Mark opened the bowling for NSW and batted down the order. He was also tried as an opener in partnership with future Australian captain, Mark Taylor. As a bowler, he was brisk and loved to bounce batsmen. He later converted to off-spin with considerable success as a partnership breaker. If nothing else, he was an extremely versatile cricketer who was rarely out of the game. This is consistently confirmed by interviewees for this book, like his former Australian Captain Allan Border who recounts Mark often turning a game with a freakish catch, a much-needed wicket or valuable runs. He managed to do this with his collar still turned up and not a hair out of place.

It was in fact AB who recommended Mark to the Essex Cricket Board as the overseas professional to replace him. Naturally, as was his tendency, Mark scored a century and grabbed a couple of wickets on debut for the county. AB looked like a genius for his astute judgement!

Mark had to wait five years longer than Stephen to earn his baggy green cap. Competition for slots in the Australian batting line-up was fierce with Dean Jones, Damien Martyn, Tom Moody and the Waugh twins all in the mix for spots. During these years when he dominated Shield and County cricket, he was being jokingly called ‘Afghanistan”’ .because he was the forgotten Waugh.

When he debuted at Adelaide against England in 1990-91, his exquisite first innings of 138 showed he was more than ready for the step up in class. The Poms seemed to stray onto the legs of the newcomer, which was like feeding candy to a baby. In notching a ton, Mark had achieved what Stephen had taken 31 innings to do. By that stage he was already a key member of the Benson and Hedges One Day team. He turned out for Australia in 128 Tests and 244 International limited overs matches. No doubt he would have been a star in the T20 format.

Mark played in an era when the West Indies were blessed with a fearsome pace attack and some destructive batsmen led by the great IVA Richards. Mark, enigmatically as always, held his own against the intimidating West Indies attack which was led by Curtly Ambrose but sometimes struggled against minnows like Sri Lanka. Famously he scored four ducks in a row against the teardrop nation earning the nickname ‘Audi’ (which has four Os as its logo). Another duck and it would have been ‘Olympics’.

A player today would need a mental health break and therapy to overcome this career-threatening event. Instead, Mark could laugh about it, noting that anyone can fall for a duck but that four of them in fifteen balls was very unlucky. He had been in reasonable form in the nets, according to his teammates, and just knuckled down to recapture his form. When Greg Chappell was going through a similar torrid time late in his career he said “I’m batting OK but I keep getting out.”

The author describes the ups and downs of his long Test and limited overs career, including ‘the bookie scandal’. Most of his peers express great respect for the player and person he is.

Geoff Marsh, for instance: “There’s not a better all-round cricketer to come out of Australia since I don’t know when.”

Adam Gilchrist, with whom he shared the opening duties in the One Day team lauds him as “a very loyal person”.

The Waugh brothers are now 60. Time has moved on. This book was written 23 years ago (when sports writing was in vogue) and stands as a reminder of just how good Mark Waugh was.

 

 

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