Goodbye and thank you, Steve Waugh.

[Donny]

Steve Waugh finishes his Test career with 10927 at an average of 51.06

32 centuries and 50 fifties. 112 catches and 92 wickets.

A great captaincy record and goes out of Test cricket as one of the most admired cricketers/leaders ever to grace the game.

Thanks, Stevie.

[2 PIES IN CAIRNS]

Yep, well said, Donny. Agree totally.

Pete

[Sultan of spin]

Here Here!, a great finish by a great player and a great man.

[JLC]

Yup what a champion and played literally right to the end with another fighting innings.

jlc

[The Prototype]

It's a shame he can't play one more VB series to finish his international career on a high.

[Donny]

He did finish on a high, Dave.

His innings (with Katich) saved us from losing the series. It was a typical, gutsy Steve Waugh innings.

[MargOZ]

Great captain, great cricketer and a great guy. It's sad to see him go but he'll certainly never be forgotton. It may have not been a fairytale last test series but it was gutsy effort and the team never gave up.

Well done and thanks for the memories Steve.

Marg

[Blanch]

The greatest captain we've had. I tip my hat to you Sir Steve Waugh.

[Johnson#26]

Thanks for every thing Steve! You are a true champion - in every sense of the word!

[Joel]

See ya Steve.

[Donny]

Steve 'lost the plot'

By Robert Craddock - Fox sports

STEVE Waugh last night owned up to being overwhelmed by the emotion of his gala send-off and feared the final shot of his Test career could have spoilt the biggest party of his life.

Waugh was dismissed for 80 five overs from stumps when he swiped a ball from Anil Kumble to Sachin Tendulkar at deep backward square hunting for a farewell century.

The third-ball dismissal of Adam Gilchrist soon after momentarily sent a tremor of uncertainty through the Australian camp.

It was the sixth wicket to fall and though an Indian victory was unlikely, Waugh feared the worst.

"It shows after 168 Tests you can still lose the plot under pressure," Waugh said.

"I was certainly worried after Gilly got out but it is in our nature to play that way. In some ways it was a great spectacle for the crowd. If we had lost the Test I would not have been that pleased with myself.

"I knew there was five overs to go. I was looking to get a couple of twos from that over and for some reason I went for the big six.

"There is no doubt about that. In some ways I owed the crowd what happened. It may have been a costly shot but we took risks in the last 15 overs. I did not hesitate. I tried to hit a six. I got out. That's cricket."

Waugh's farewell was such an emotional occasion that at 9pm last night there was still a crowd outside the Australian dressing room waiting for him to emerge.

Waugh conceded Australia's pros pects of a stunning last-day victory were always dim.

"All day we were behind the eight ball. It was a pretty dangerous situation. Even at the end when I got out it probably put the team in jeopardy.

"It was a line ball decision whether to go for it or not. It was a brave effort to get so close."

[Donny]

Driven by country, cap and cause

Comment by Mike Coward


STEVE WAUGH was, of course, unsinkable. Not even the tidal wave of emotion which swamped his beloved Sydney Cricket Ground unnerved him. On the outside, anyway.

As ever, he kept his feet and his head until all was safe on the home front. But only just. In the end he was very nearly guilty of a misjudgment that would have haunted him for the rest of his days.

For one last time this supreme cricketer showcased the essential qualities that have made him a legend of the game.

At first this was not an occasion for reflection or even a little self-conscious self-congratulation. As ever, country, cap and cause were foremost in his mind. But when he found such a staunch ally as Simon Katich he played into the hands of his more strident critics by risking all he stood for and had fought for by contemplating a farewell hundred.

Perhaps it was an aberration the emotion of the occasion and of the past few weeks finally overcoming him. Be that as it may, the Australians were momentarily and seriously exposed.

Just as it was in the beginning 18 years ago, Waugh's principal task was to defy and defend and not destroy and defeat as has been the case for much of the time since he came of age as a Test player in England in 1989.

In a sense, he has gone full circle. Australia were vulnerable against all-comers when he began against India in 1985-86. Now, they are vulnerable just against India, especially with Glenn McGrath doing rehab and Shane Warne doing time.

As often as you visit India and as much as you love India you never know India. And, in this regard, Waugh is no different to the next bloke.

This wondrous country has given him so much yet has also taken from him. And, it must be said, very nearly did again. But India teaches you philosophical acceptance of so many things and, in time, he will live with the disappointment of not winning the trophy which, along with Sunil Gavaskar, is named after his mentor Allan Border.

After all the fanfare of his farewell tour this summer, we forget that before November 26 it was widely thought he was destined to go to India in October and perhaps say goodbye in Calcutta, near Barrackpore, which in a sense has become his spiritual home over the past six years.

But gods far removed from the Hindu pantheon had different ideas and so the longest-serving player in the 127-year history of Test cricket and, at least statistically, the game's more successful captain has bowed to the passage of time.

Sport, like grand opera and great theatre, is emotional. Indeed, the great sporting occasion is often an intoxicating mix of grand opera and great theatre.

And so it was yesterday as people came from far and wide to give their heartfelt thanks to a man who has been a part of their lives for so many years.

As it was with Don Bradman and Border and so many other giants of the game, a summer without Waugh is unimaginable.

But this is the beauty of the game. It never wearies like its greatest exponents.

It is often said that Australia's cricket captain holds the second-highest office in the land. Perhaps this is so for John Howard, the holder of the other office was there again yesterday. And more than once he has let it slip that Waugh's is the one job he has secretly coveted.

Given the circumstances of the match there was some inevitability that Waugh would be in occupation near or at the death. For the umpteenth time in 168 Tests, the honour of Australian cricket was on the line and he would not give ground. Of course, it is not in his nature to give ground. After all, he is the man who insisted his Australian team visit Gallipoli and unselfconsciously wear the slouch hat.

To this end it was appropriate that the Governor General, Major General Michael Jeffery and General Peter Cosgrove were among the many distinguished Australians who came to bid farewell.

This is the measure of the man who has captured the imagination of people from all walks of life.

There were many and varied emotions yesterday. There was, of course, the fanciful notion that Australia could reach the 443 for the most improbable of victories. Then there was the frustration when play was delayed for 22 minutes by light rain.

And what was one to feel? Surely the patriotic fervour of another splendid crowd demanded Australia not lose, but to see Waugh bat one last time wickets needed to fall.

To draw was an achievement for the Australians given that India had amassed the phenomenal 7-705 declared over the first 13 and a half hours of the match and so dictated the terms and tempo of proceedings.

India have carried all before them on this tour and richly deserve to retain the trophy.

Such is their batting strength that if they attend to bowling and wicketkeeping uncertainties they are assured of a prosperous future.

For the first time in many years the same is not quite as certain for Australia.

[Donny]

SCG pitch frustrates gladiator

Comment by Jeff Wells

IN THE end, for Steve Waugh, it was like Russell Crowe getting the dagger in the gut before his last fight in Gladiator.

Draws don't count among the death or glory boys. Again he had saved Australia's skin, and the series, and kept them on top of the world, but he ran out of time and had to endure a match which faded out with the defensive Indian field spread against one final flurry, with no way he could rationally turn it around.

With every ball a drama on a bitch of a pitch he sacrificed himself for a clubbing 80, caught on the boundary, with the draw safe, Australia headed for 6-357.

He never really had a chance to win. The powers that be had seen to that by preparing a crazy pitch. The only consolation was that he had not lost his last series. But he has never been one for that sort of consolation.

Waugh was cruelly frustrated in what could have been his ultimate moment of glory. But at least he got back to the sheds alive to pack his armour for the last time. And on his last walk away from battleground he got to soak up the adulation, from the 27,056 crowd, that he deserves. He had drawn 190,000 worshippers to the ground in five days.

Now he has the rest of his life to see what his legacy will be. Will his spirit live on? Will Australia continue to play cricket hard, fast and uncompromising the Waugh way. Do they, indeed, have the talent? It is now in the hands of others.

For a while, while openers Langer and Hayden were prepared to fly, that never-say-die spirit lived on. Then, when they were gone before lunch - Hayden failing to read a wrong'un from the deadly spinner Anil Kumble on 30, and Langer spooning a catch off the suddenly dangerous left-arm spin partner Murali Kartik for 47 - the spirit wavered.

Now, with Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn pinned down, the formula swung towards the honourable draw. India could take home their trophy, and even claim a moral victory, but Steve Waugh, the greatest winning captain in Test history, would not lose his last series, under a sullen sky, on his sacred SCG. The serious chase appeared to be over by 2.45 with 48 overs remaining.

Then Martyn was caught sweeping and it was 3-170.

With 2.52 showing on that famous clock, the great man himself, his arms swinging, the crowd chanting his name, stepped to the wicket, 273 to win, with Ganguly crowding him. He relieved the pressure by on-driving Kartik for four, then top- edged short of square leg as the crowd held its breath.

The win seemed impossible now, but he couldn't back off.

And to add to his troubles the ball began to swing dangerously for young left-arm quick Irfan Pathan. And just before tea it caused Ponting, on 47, to flip him back a catch, and it was 4-196. And Waugh was playing more on stoic character than anything like his best form with 35 overs to survive after tea.

He was sadly compromised. It must have cut him to the quick to go down defending rather than swinging. "Boring", chanted the crowd as Ganguly failed to encircle the batsmen, as if runs still counted. But Waugh and Simon Katich were doing just enough to keep Ganguly in two minds about a final famous blitzkrieg of 152 off 15 overs.

What a bizarre situation Waugh had faced. At 0-10 his team needed a world record 433 to win. He had been coshed by his home curator. After days of hopelessness for the bowlers commentator Ian Healy was now able, in his pitch report, to drop a ball into a hole so big that the cherry almost disappeared.

There was a lethal looking rough and bounce and turn with which Kumble, who had taken eight wickets in the first innings, could taunt Australia's contingent of left-handers.

It merely reinforced the sad reality that Waugh had gone into a Test, against talented opponents, in which whoever won the toss would not lose. And he did not win the toss.

The pitch was perverse and the scene had been set more for tragedy than triumph for the greatest leader among leading men.