Every sportsperson, amateur or professional, has one moment in their sporting career that lives in their memory above all others. For some it is a hole in one, or scoring the goal that wins your team the grand final, or that big three pointer bomb with just seconds to go that wins your basketball team the flag. For Steve Waugh it was a simple cover drive to the boundary on the last ball of the second day of the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG on the 3rd of January, 2003.
The 2002/2003 Ashes series had been a big success for the Australian cricket team, and by the time they and the English cricket team took to the ground on the first day of the Fifth Test, the series was already Australia’s at 4 – 0, and ordinarily you would not expect the captaincy of the Australian team to be in doubt. Ask Steve Waugh himself, as this DVD does, and you’ll find that he too still struggles to understand why the wolves were at the door.
Steve Waugh’s batting had been under the microscope for some time, and despite scoring a century in the last test match Australia played in the Middle East, his ability to score runs was being questioned by the Australian media, the Australian Cricket Board and some of the public, though probably not the team he was captaining. Australia were, and still are, the world’s best as their results have proved, but this still wasn’t enough.
Going into the last match, Steve’s campaign really had not contained too many highlights or big innings. As the interviewees on this DVD point out, he hadn’t really played any memorable innings. In fact, he had actually played one or two shockers.
England got off to a great start in the Fifth test, and batted through the first day posting a respectable score. They were bundled out on the second day, and soon enough it was Australia’s turn to bat. Almost before there was time for it to sink in, Australia was 3 for 56 and looking nothing like their usual selves. Enter Steve Waugh, and after a nervous start, he began to play shots and steadied the ship as he has done many, many times. With the end of the day’s play approaching, and with Adam Gilchrist at the wicket with him, Steve Waugh made the decision that he was not going to spend that night wondering if he would make a hundred on the third day, and set about getting the required runs before the end of Day Two.
Along the way, Steve passed another milestone, becoming only the third player to score 10,000 runs. With the shadows lengthening, it was time for just one more over to be bowled by Richard Dawson, with Steve Waugh facing him on 95. In front of an expectant crowd, that last over was bowled and will go down in history as one of the most amazing sporting moments – ever!
Even though most people know exactly how the last over was played out, it is still quite chilling and thrilling to watch it all again. Even knowing what happened cannot dampen the emotions and expectation. This DVD chugs pleasantly along for most of its 68 minutes summarising the series, Steve’s personal battle to prove his worth as a batsman, and setting the scene for that one memorable moment. Sure it’s drawn out a little, but that’s how it happened on the day, and the last 15 minutes or so are just as tense now as they were then.
With input from Steve himself, his batting partner of the moment, Adam Gilchrist, English captain Nasser Hussain and commentators Richie Benaud, Mark Taylor, plus comedian Andrew Denton (who won an auction to spend a day in the Aussie change rooms and scored that day, and even Prime Minister John Howard manages to get a few words in.
With Australia poised to win the 2003 World Cup, this is a perfect time to relive one of the greatest moments in Australia’s sporting history.
