Steve Waugh-The IceMan

Steve Waugh, one of the most successful captains of the test history . A person known for his fortitude, determination and patience in the field, a cricketer who performed better under the crunch situation, a captain who leads from the front, a player who had never lost hope until the last ball was delivered, an inspiration for all the captains, a role model for young cricketers.

Waugh, along with the bowling of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, provided perhaps the major foundation upon which the Australian team rose to become what was widely regarded as the best team in the world by the mid-1990s.

Born at Canterbury Hospital in Campsie, New South Wales on 2 June 1965, Waugh was one of twin boys born to Rodger and Beverley Waugh. He arrived four minutes before Mark. His father was a bank official and his mother was a teacher.

Waugh made his first-class debut for New South Wales (NSW) in 1984–85, batting at number nine and bowling medium pace.He joined the Australian squad as an all-rounder and made his debut against India in a test at MCG in 1985. He scored 13 and 5 and took 2/36 in the first innings. He made his ODI debut against New Zealand at the MCG and took 1/13 and a catch. Soon he became a healthy customer in limited over game, who with his slow medium pace delivery could surprise the batsman in the depth of inning and could also play a cameo inning in the slog over. He gradually developed a shot "slog sweep" against spin bowling,  theoretically technically unsound, but has proven highly effective against the spinners and even against faster bowlers at times.

The 1987 World Cup was the turning point of Waugh's career. He impressed the cricketing world by his all-round performance. He scored 167 runs at 55.66 and took 11 wickets at 26.18. In the semi-final against host Pakistan, Waugh hit played an important cameo of 32*, a match that Australia won by 18 runs. In the final, he was a key player as Australia defended a target of 254 against England at Kolkata. He claimed the wickets of Allan Lamb and Phillip deFreitas in the 47th and 49th overs as England stumbled towards the end of the run-chase. Australia won by seven runs to claim the World Cup for the first time. These performances in tight situations earned him the nickname of "Iceman".

However, he was not taken seriously in test cricket until he scored his maiden century against England in 1993 Ashes and was involved in a long partnership with the then captain Alan Border. It was this inning that drew the attention of cricket world towards this young, enthusiastic cricketer. After this inning he improved his batting with every game. 1989 Ashes series, Waugh finished the series with 506 runs at 126.5. He bowled less frequently, with only two wickets in the six Tests. It was on this tour that he first experienced back problems and stopped being a regular bowler. He never looked back and established himself as a specialist batsman than an all-rounder. He just dominated the opponent bowling attack with his optimistic, plunk never to say die attitude batting. His back foot drive, square cut, slog sweeps and his strong defence are his trademarks. During 1995 Frank Worrell Trophy against West Indies saw the best of Steve Waugh where he faced one of the finest bowling attacks with much courage and determination. In a low-scoring, four-Test series, Waugh compiled 429 runs at an average of 107.25 and claimed five wickets to win the player of the series award. In Jamaica, Steve Waugh made a brilliant double hundred under pressure which also involved a long partnership of 231 runs with his brother Mark, who was eventually out for 126. Waugh was the last man to go after nine hours of batting. With a large lead on first innings, Australia dismissed the opposition for a low score to win a crushing victory.

In 1995–96, Waugh was ranked as the world's leading Test batsman in the world. In the same year, he scored his maiden ODI century, ten years after his ODI debut, with an unbeaten 102 against Sri Lanka in Melbourne.

During 1997 Ashes, Australia lost the First Test by nine wickets, drew the Second Test. However in the third test at Manchester, Waugh made centuries in both inning in a low scoring match and helped Australia leveled the series and regained the initiative, retaining the Ashes with a 3–2 result.

He will always be remembered as a player of pressure situation. Under such situations he  always seemed ready to set Thames on fire. Whether his inning of 200 v/s West Indies at Jamaica or super six league match against South Africa in the world cup where he had scored 120* of just 110 balls, still rated as one of the finest innings by a captain in limited over game or his last test inning of 80 v/s India where he not only saved the test but also the series reflects his never say die attitude.

When he was handed over the captaincy, no one ever thought that this man would leave all the great captains of the past behind. If winning the 1999 world cup was an achievement for him as a captain, 16 record (starting from 1999–00 Test season against Pakistan 3-0, India 3-0, New Zealand 3–0, W.Indies  5-0) straight wins add another feather to the cap of his captaincy. He just revolutionized the test by scoring the quick runs in test in a fashion similar to one-day game thus making it more interesting and result oriented.

In 1999 World Cup in spite of an ordinary performance in the initial stages Australia Bounced back with Super Six Stage. Waugh lead from front and played two of his best one day knock must-win games against South Africa: he scored an unbeaten 120 against South Africa in the "Super Six" phase and 56 in the semi-final. The latter match was tied and Australia progressed to the final, where they crushed Pakistan by eight wickets to win the trophy.

The only significant result that Australia had failed to achieve during Waugh's international career was victory in a Test series in India. Waugh began calling this the "Final Frontier" as Australia had not won there since 1969–70. Australia won the First Test at Mumbai by ten wickets to extend the winning sequence to 16 and set for series win in the Second Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata after conceding a first innings lead of 274. However, V. V. S. Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for the entire fourth day's play and set Australia a target of 384 on a dusty, spinning wicket. The Australians were unable to cope with the spin of Harbhajan Singh on the final day, and became only the third team to lose a Test after enforcing the follow-on. In the final Test well, Australian’s batsmen once again surrendered against Harbhajan lost by 2 wickets in a thrilling match.

He was unable to maintain his form during the 2001–02 Australian season, failing to score a century in the six Tests against New Zealand and South Africa. In the triangular series featuring New Zealand & S.Africa, Australia failed to qualify for the finals for only the third time in 23 years.With an eye toward the next World Cup, the selectors dropped the Waugh brothers and handed the captaincy to Ricky Ponting. Waugh made his displeasure at the decision public and stated a desire to regain his place in the side.

The 2003 Cricket World Cup came and Waugh's desire to return for a fifth World Cup was denied as Symonds was picked up for injured Shane Watson ahead of Waugh.

His final test came against India in the final Fourth Test at Waugh's home ground at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Promoters paid tribute to Waugh by handing out giant red handkerchiefs to incoming spectators; Waugh had always used a red handkerchief to wipe perspiration while he was batting.

His 168 test matches is the record for test matches played, of these he captained Australia on 57 occasions the fourth highest of all time, and Australia's 41 victories under his leadership is the most of any Test captain. He holds the unique record of having scored over 150 runs in one innings against each test playing nation at the time.

Waugh helps to raise funds for a leper children's colony, "Udayan", in Calcutta. Waugh is a keen photographer and has produced several "tour diaries" which feature his images. In his later years as a cricketer, he has written for a number of newspapers. He is also a prolific author and his ever expanding series of tour diaries and thoughts provide an insight into the mind of Steve Waugh. Recently, he has written an auto-biography called Out of my comfort zone, a book which has brought lots of controversy.

Waugh was named Australian of the Year in 2004, in recognition of both his sporting achievements and charity work. Waugh is married to Lynette with three children and was named Australian Father of the Year in 2005.Waugh worked as an athletics liaison officer for Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.Waugh has been touted as a potential viable candidate for Australian government elections, although he personally disavows any political plans. He was also involved with the Australian Football side during the Asian Cup, assisting the team as a psychological mentor.On the 3rd of February 2009 Steve Waugh became the 30th cricketer inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

In the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2003, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), "for service to cricket as a leading player, and to the community, particularly through the Udayan children's home".

Whatever the job he was given whether it was of a bowler or a batsman or a captain, he played the role honestly and successfully. He bore away many awards from time to time; his contribution to the cricketing world is unmatchable. He has won many laurels as one of the all time greatest cricketers. Player of such a caliber is seen once in blue moon. The cricketing world will always miss him.