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Nearly 17 years on from the 168th and final Test of his storied career, Steve Waugh is still pulling the strings, still using his eye for detail and his insight into human nature.
Waugh scored 32 Test centuries, including 10 against England alone. He triumphed in two World Cups and eight Ashes series out of nine. Under his leadership, Australia once won a world-record 16 Tests in a row. So when he says, at the age of 55, that taking the perfect photo is ‘equally as satisfying’ as a hundred at Lord’s or the MCG, it is clear he is not messing about.
A new book, The Spirit of Cricket, brings together two passions – photography and India – and contains his favourite 220 snaps from the 17,000 he took during an 18-day trip earlier this year. The results, which have also formed an exhibition in Sydney, reflect both the riches on offer around every Kolkata corner and on every Mumbai maidan, as well as the mindset of a cricketer who knew how to pursue his prey.
Steve Waugh scored 32 a total of Test centuries, including 10 against England alone
‘I guess photography is about intuition and gut feel,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘A bit like playing cricket: you look at a scene and set it up, and you wait patiently until the characters move in and out to the exact position you want them.’
England batsmen scarred of the past may wince in recognition. But India is less easily tamed. Waugh never won a Test series there during his 19-year career, and the images of which he is proudest tell of a nation that can take the breath away before you’ve had a chance to inhale.
‘I really enjoyed taking photos of the physically challenged cricketers,’ he says. ‘They were flying through the air like ninja warriors, and landing on bamboo crutches. Quite a few had missing limbs, or polio, but it was like poetry in motion.
‘It was pretty inspirational. And playing cricket with the blind cricketers – photographing those guys and realising how challenging their sport is and how good they were…’
The Australian legend also triumphed in two World Cups and eight Ashes series out of nine
He has now turned his attention to photography, releasing a booked called The Spirit of Cricket
Waugh first toured India in 1986-87. He played in the tied Test at Madras, fell ill in Bombay, and didn’t properly recover for a year. As he writes in his 800-page doorstop of an autobiography, Out of My Comfort Zone: ‘This was India. I both loved and hated it.’
In good ways and bad, India got under his skin and into his head. On another trip, over a decade later, Australia lost in Kolkata with a day to spare. Waugh used the spare time to visit a rehabilitation centre for children of leprosy sufferers – a charity he continues to support.
‘I guess I’m inquisitive and curious by nature. I like to look at things and see how they work, and how other people live their lives. In India, you see things you’ve never seen before. It really is an assault on your senses: 850 million people live below the poverty line, but they still have this amazing spirit.’
Waugh’s fascination with a country that has often persuaded less open-minded cricketers to take refuge in room service partly explains his disappointment at the news that Indian captain Virat Kohli will play only the first game of the four-Test series, starting in Sydney on November 27, before flying home to be with his pregnant wife, Bollywood star wife Anushka Sharma.
The ex-Aussie captain took more than 17,000 photos during an 18-day tour of India
He pictured a game in Rajasthan’s desert and monks playing in the foothills of the Himalayas
‘It’s a bit of a surprise, I must admit,’ he says. ‘Kohli seems to be the guy who would run through a brick wall to play for India. This is the heavyweight title fight – the two best Test sides in the world coming together, and seeing who’s going to be No 1.
‘A lot of Indians will be disappointed, and Australians as well. If you win, you want to be beating the best possible opposition team. Without Kohli, it definitely takes something away from the series. Australia are firm favourites.’
Times, clearly, have changed. ‘Under someone like Allan Border in those early years, it was a tough game, it was a man’s game. It was old school. If you had a pregnancy back home, it was just pot luck whether you made it back in time. A lot of players were on tour and their wives gave birth. It’s strange when you look back: one of those moments in life, and you miss it for a game of cricket.’
And yet, for Waugh, cricket still looms large. A year out from the next Ashes, he nominates Jofra Archer – even with the Kookaburra ball on Australian pitches – as the bowler his compatriots must fear.
Waugh’s book also shared inspiring pictures such as this disabled bowler on crutches (above)
Waugh says that his book brings together his two passions – photography and India
‘I don’t think it matters what brand of ball is in his hand. He’s capable of bowling 100mph. He seems to have this extra gear, a bit like the great fast bowlers – Ambrose, Marshall, Wasim Akram. When they want to, they can lift it to another level. When they target someone, they can up the ante. A bit like with Steve Smith at Lord’s: Archer really went after him.
‘He’s a bowler that’s got to be respected and feared – potentially a match winner. He’s been a little bit hot and cold over the last 12 months, but he seems the sort of player who saves his best for the best teams.’
What of England’s ongoing debate about the roles James Anderson and Stuart Broad – 38 and 34 respectively – might play down under?
‘Age is almost irrelevant these days, because you get so much support around you. Having said that, as a bowler it’s incredible to think that Anderson has played over 160 Tests, and Broad well over 100. That’s amazing stamina and resilience and toughness, because you’ve got to play through injury.
‘Maybe it’s a bridge too far for both of those guys, but who knows? You never write off champions – that’s the worst thing you can do. But Anderson definitely hasn’t been as effective in Australian conditions. So, of the two, it’s probably more likely Broad will make the trip.’
Whoever England choose will face not just Steve Smith, who has averaged 137 and 110 in the last two Ashes, but Marnus Labuschagne, whose early career average of 63 is higher even than Smith’s.
Waugh has nominated Jofra Archer as the bowler his compatriots must fear at the Ashes
‘I was privileged to see him take on Jofra Archer at Lord’s,’ says Waugh. ‘They were terrible conditions to bat. There was no light. Archer was bowling 100 miles an hour and Marnus got hit on the head, but he bounced back up. It was one of those moments where you know the guy is different, he’s got something special.’
If Smith and Labuschagne feel like prototypes of the modern sporting genius, obsessed with their craft and little else, then Waugh proved it was possible for a world-class cricketer to enjoy a hinterland.
‘The more well-rounded you are, the better you handle tough circumstances and decisions, because you’ve got more experience,’ he says.
‘Travelling to these countries and seeing things from a different perspective helped my cricket, because I was exposed to a lot of scenarios and situations. You realise that cricket is great fun, but it’s pretty simple: if you’re good at it, make the most of it.’
The Spirit of Cricket is available at www.stevewaugh.com.au
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