Has there ever been a cricketer who made the game look easier than Mark Waugh?
Mark Waugh in PrimeImages: Getty Images
You mention sledging – have you got any particular favourite?
Oh, I always remember playing against this English bowler called James Ormond. I was fielding at bat-pad and I said a few words to him: “Who’s this guy? Never seen him before. Surely he’s not one of the best 11 cricketers in England?” At the end of the over he walked past me and said, “Maybe not, but at least I’m the best cricketer in my family.” Not a bad sledge.
Did you have a comeback?
Nah. I just laughed and kept walking. Wasn’t a bad one, actually ...
We hear a lot of myths about how hard it is playing cricket on the Subcontinent. Have you got a favourite war story from over there?
Oh, there’ve been more than a few blokes who haven’t quite made it to the toilet when they’ve been out in the field, put it that way. Actually, when I hit my highest Test score I was that sick the night before, I had a doctor by my bedside all night. I was vomiting, I had diarrhoea. I only arrived at the ground just as we were about to get on. Maybe I should’ve got sick a bit more often – might have made a few more runs ...
Both you and Dean Jones ...
Well, I wasn’t quite on a drip, like Deano was back in ’87 ... But we can say I was, can’t we?
And who’ll win this month’s World Cup?
Obviously I’d like to see Australia get up, but I think Sri Lanka will be pretty hard to beat. They’ve got the home ground advantage, they’ve got a lot of very experienced players, they’ve got a quality young all-rounder in that Angelo Mathews. We had a glimpse of them out here earlier this summer and they certainly looked pretty good to me. They’ll be hard to beat and they’re good value, too – I think they’re paying about $6.
What are your thoughts on India?
Yeah, on paper the Indians look to be a very good side. Whether the pressure gets to them a bit playing at home, I don’t know. You’d have to think they’re going to be in the semis.
And South Africa – can they overturn their World Cup hoodoo?
They’re a very solid team. That’s your top three on recent form – Sri Lanka, India and South Africa. But you can’t write off Australia. If we get our best players back to full fitness we’ll give it a shake as well. So there’s your first four, anyway.
Should Ricky Ponting lead the Australian team, given he missed the entire home ODI series against England?
For sure – if he’s fit. I mean, we’ve won the last three World Cups and he’s captained two of them, so he’s definitely the one to lead us.
And what about Michael Clarke? What do the selectors do with him?
Look, I’m sure he’ll come out of this slump. His record suggests that – you don’t average mid 40s in Test cricket without being able to play. I just think he looks a bit tentative at the moment. I think he needs to play a few shots and get back to the way he used to play when he was younger. You know, he used to be a bit of a dasher when he first came on the scene – for some reason he’s gone into his shell over the last few seasons.
