21 June 1999
Waugh's hard-nosed image of World Cup success
Trevor Chesterfield
LONDON (England) - There is no euphemism to describe such a
comprehensive victory as Australia achieved at Lord's on Sunday when
their utter professionalism annihilated Pakistan: hard, tough and
uncompromising.
To some they are the unsmiling giants, the true World Cup champions,
making up for what they failed to accomplish in Lahore three years and
four months ago; a time of torment turned around after their
humiliation by Sri Lanka, the smiling, happy-go-lucky pygmies of the
Test arena who rode their luck and good fortune.
It was a lesson from which Steve Waugh learnt much; the Australian
psyche, noted for a mental toughness and outward exterior which was
not prepared to yield a fraction of a centimetre. Not on the field in
a World Cup final.
Waugh's policy of 'take no prisoners' may be a cliche to some yet it
is as older than the tape on a W G Grace bat in the Memorial Museum.
In the Don Bradman era after World War 2 England long felt retribution
for The Oval Test of 1938; ray Lindawall and Keith Miller were the
agents of destruction while The Don and other members of the 1946/47
and 1948 teams demolished whatever bowling attack England could.
On Sunday, Waugh went for what is commonly known as 'the jugular' and
Pakistan's hopes haemorrhaged so badly the body was not in a fit state
to be revived. Had Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, applied
similar tactics at Edgbaston on Thursday he might now be hailed as the
leader of the new World Cup champions.
At Edgbaston, if you recall, Australia were a little shaky at the
knees in their semi-final against South Africa. At 68 for four
Australia were feeling the prickly pinch of apprehension when Waugh
joined by Michael Bevan: another wicket at that stage would have just
about buried a second World Cup final appearance at Lord's.
Instead of deviating from the script and bringing back Allan Donald
and Shaun Pollock for a couple of overs apiece Cronje declined to read
between the lines. He continued with the game plan instead of dealing
in an exercise of innovation.
In Waugh's eyes there is no room for compromise on the field. He
expressed this more than once during the five weeks.
'We're not here to win friends mate,' he growled at the press
conference after beating the West Indies in that controversial match
at Old Trafford at the end of May.
'Out job is, if we can, to win the World Cup. I am not bothered by
anything else at this moment. If this tactic helps us do that (win the
Worlds Cup), I am satisfied we have done the right thing..'
Waugh also had a cryptic answer ready for any question asked at the
media conference. At Lord's on Sunday we had some interesting
inquiries.
One came from a West Indian journalist who tried to probe beneath the
hard-nosed Waugh exterior in a bid to get a view of the rugged
consciousness with a polite question, the expurgated version of which
is related here. Could Mr Waugh (if you please) assure the rest of
the world there would now be a moratorium on such matters as sledging,
bullying of opponents and general ruthlessness for which they were so
well-known.
'No,' said the Australian captain in a typical unbending manner. If
you think that successfully disposed of the questioner, smile a while.
Would then Mr Waugh ask his players to tone down their attitude if not
behaviour?
There was a shake of the head. He had already replied to the question:
it was time to move on.
Why bother to answer when Australia had been as ruthless as they were
going to be; tough playing field bullies who had mentally sledged
Pakistan into submission. Perhaps man of the final, Shane Warne,
should have answered for his captain. But 'Hollywood' preferred his
skipper to turn the torture wheel a few more times to make sure words
such as 'strangled the opposition' gained extra emphasis.
It was indeed the occasion for the tough Australian to stand up: the
miracle workers of Edgbaston, where scraping through to the final
required a Houdini survival kit which needed careful reading of the
instructions. Such is the precarious lottery of the one-day game.
They had barely survived the first round and when they were finding
their form in the Super Sixes there was always the impression they
would fall, as had England, the West Indies, Sri Lanka , India and
more cruelly South Africa.
At Lord's on Sunday it was the sharp fielding and the remarkable
catching which opened old wounds in the Pakistan side and produced one
of the more remarkable sights in a final: Inzamam-ul-Huq's forlorn
figure slowly trudging off to the pavilion. His cherubic features
creased with disbelief and agony, the batsman felt he had been
betrayed.
So had the supporters inside and outside the ground as well as
Pakistan and other far flung pavilions across the face of the map.
Yet the Pakistan supporter, as with any from the Asian sub-continent,
carries the passion others do not normally display. Collectively they
provided many of the more satisfying sights and sounds of the
tournament. They celebrated success and cheered their heroes through
their tears when they lost. They were brave if exuberant; they were
optimistic and paraded their enthusiasm with an openness which, if at
times was too much for officialdom to handle, brought a new dimension
to the game.
Sri Lankans, as is largely their gentle nature, may be more
conservative than the Indians, but you know both are there; Pakistan
and Bangladesh supporters are perhaps more assertive when expressing
their feelings, aggressive too as can be their culture.
It is what turned World Cup '99 into the tournament it became and with
it gave the game a new identity. It is no longer the game exported 200
or more years ago to the former nations of the British empire or
Raj. It has become the sport binding millions: whether across Asia,
Africa, Australia and New Zealand, the West Indies or new territories.
Hopefully the cultural forces felt in England will be further
developed in 2003 when, barely into the new millennium, the next event
is held in South Africa.
One of the more disappointing facets mirroring human nature could be
found in the variety of messages contained in a number of emails which
surfaced after Sunday's World Cup final result.
Many views, including those trumpeting Australia's success form Down
Under, and others from parts of the Asian sub-continent aimed at the
demise of Pakistan or Hansie Cronje and the South Africa team, were
quite frankly of an unpleasant, disgraceful nature and had nothing at
all to do with sport.
Some emails which turned up in one of my email boxes were not at all
appreciated and swiftly dispatched to the 'trash' bin where they and
their authors belong.
There were any number of scenes during this great carnival, which only
became a carnival through the carefree spirit of the Asian spectators
and players, which linger longer than most if only because of the
sense of humour which could be seen from the actions on the players.
The first was at Headingley in Leeds where we were faced with the
incongruous sight of Inzamam-ul-Haq, when in going for a run in the
match against Australia, lay sprawled in an undignified heap on the
turf next to his captain Wasim Akram who had declined to run.
Akram did not let on at all what his comments were to the portly
Inzamam. Then we had, at The Grange, in Edinburgh, Craig McMillan
crash-tackling the stumps, bat in hand and all as he beat a return
while batting for New Zealand against Scotland in the game which
helped the Kiwis reach the Super Sixes.
Jonty Rhodes did something similar when beating a return at Trent
Bridge against Pakistan, taking out the camera video stump as well as
causing much mirth in the South African dressing room.
Finally, the sight of a water pistol fending off a cavalry charge: New
Zealand's Roger Twose rushing toward the boundary trying to take a
catch offered by Saeed Anwar as the hordes of Pakistan supporters
charged on, one of them plucking the ball out of the air as Twose,
watching the mad dash for the middle and 'their spoils of victory'
stopped just as he was engulfed.
Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News