Mike5181
International Captain
Damien Martyn
Batting Average
Tests 4406 runs @ 46.37
No contemporary cricketer, Tendulkar aside, made batting look so simple as Damien Martyn. But it was not always thus. For the brash 21-year-old who waltzed into the Australian team at Dean Jones's expense, batting was an exercise in extravagance. To defend was to display weakness - a policy that backfired in 1993-94 when Martyn's airy square-drive at a crucial moment in Sydney triggered a five-run defeat by South Africa and a seven-year hitch to his own promising career. By the time Western Australia, wanting a pretty face to spearhead their marketing campaign, had made him captain at 23, Martyn looked a tormented man. All the more remarkable, then, that he blossomed into a relaxed, classical, feathery artist. He was an elastic fieldsman and an old-style batsman whose first movement was back. He played with a high elbow, a still head, a golfer's deft touch, and had all the shots, including perhaps the most brutal reverse-sweep in the game.
Mostly, though, Martyn stuck to the textbook and composed pristine hundreds which, like the feats of the best wicketkeepers, passed almost unnoticed: an observation supported by the curious fact that, despite a Test average in the fifties, he reached the age of 30 without winning a Man-of-the-Match award. He was the quiet man of the 2003 World Cup-raising side, too, playing a minor role until he spanked 88 not out in the final - with a broken finger that later kept him out of a West Indian tour. His magnificent 13-month streak of 1608 Test runs at 61 and two Man-of-the-Series prizes from March 2004 finally moved him from the dressing-room shadows to the more uncomfortable limelight. Showing his hard-earned versatility, he crafted seven centuries on surfaces ranging from raging turners in Sri Lanka and India to green seamers in New Zealand and the hard bounce of home.
Mark Waugh
Batting Average
Tests 8029 runs @41.81
The twin brother of Steve, Mark Waugh was one of the world's most elegant and gifted strokemakers. His game was characterised by an ability to drive, cut, pull and loft the ball so effortlessly that it could make him look disdainful of the talents of bowlers. Waugh made his name as a middle-order player for New South Wales in the late 1980s, twice winning the Sheffield Shield Cricketer of the Year titles as he built and maintained a first-class average in excess of fifty. Although he lived in the shadow of his more famous brother for a number of seasons, progression to international cricket was inevitable. The only sour note when his promotion eventually came, for the fourth Test of the 1990-91 series against England, was that it arrived at Steve's expense. Critics took issue with Waugh's apparent loss of concentration at times and his capacity to occasionally succumb to lazy-looking shots. The weakness was on show most evidently during his disastrous 1992-93 tour to Sri Lanka when he scored four successive Test ducks, but it would be hard to find a player more difficult to contain when in full flight. To complement his batting skills, he offered handy part-time bowling as a medium-pacer-***-offspinner and a remarkable penchant for spectacular saves and catches - he had few rivals to match his freakish brilliance in the field. His many highlights included a world-record partnership of 464 for the fifth wicket with Steve for New South Wales against Western Australia in 1990-91; his sterling 138 on Test debut; three commanding centuries as an opener at the 1996 World Cup tournament; and 126 to seal the Frank Worrell Trophy in West Indies in 1995. The lowest moment came in late 1998 when it emerged that he and Shane Warne accepted money from an Indian bookmaker during a tour of Sri Lanka four years earlier. A laconic, unassuming character, Waugh announced his retirement from international cricket without fuss in October 2002 after losing his place in the Test squad to play England. He played on for two seasons at New South Wales, but his elegant best was behind him.
So who in your opinion was the better batsman and what did you like about their respective styles?
Batting Average
Tests 4406 runs @ 46.37
No contemporary cricketer, Tendulkar aside, made batting look so simple as Damien Martyn. But it was not always thus. For the brash 21-year-old who waltzed into the Australian team at Dean Jones's expense, batting was an exercise in extravagance. To defend was to display weakness - a policy that backfired in 1993-94 when Martyn's airy square-drive at a crucial moment in Sydney triggered a five-run defeat by South Africa and a seven-year hitch to his own promising career. By the time Western Australia, wanting a pretty face to spearhead their marketing campaign, had made him captain at 23, Martyn looked a tormented man. All the more remarkable, then, that he blossomed into a relaxed, classical, feathery artist. He was an elastic fieldsman and an old-style batsman whose first movement was back. He played with a high elbow, a still head, a golfer's deft touch, and had all the shots, including perhaps the most brutal reverse-sweep in the game.
Mostly, though, Martyn stuck to the textbook and composed pristine hundreds which, like the feats of the best wicketkeepers, passed almost unnoticed: an observation supported by the curious fact that, despite a Test average in the fifties, he reached the age of 30 without winning a Man-of-the-Match award. He was the quiet man of the 2003 World Cup-raising side, too, playing a minor role until he spanked 88 not out in the final - with a broken finger that later kept him out of a West Indian tour. His magnificent 13-month streak of 1608 Test runs at 61 and two Man-of-the-Series prizes from March 2004 finally moved him from the dressing-room shadows to the more uncomfortable limelight. Showing his hard-earned versatility, he crafted seven centuries on surfaces ranging from raging turners in Sri Lanka and India to green seamers in New Zealand and the hard bounce of home.
Mark Waugh
Batting Average
Tests 8029 runs @41.81
The twin brother of Steve, Mark Waugh was one of the world's most elegant and gifted strokemakers. His game was characterised by an ability to drive, cut, pull and loft the ball so effortlessly that it could make him look disdainful of the talents of bowlers. Waugh made his name as a middle-order player for New South Wales in the late 1980s, twice winning the Sheffield Shield Cricketer of the Year titles as he built and maintained a first-class average in excess of fifty. Although he lived in the shadow of his more famous brother for a number of seasons, progression to international cricket was inevitable. The only sour note when his promotion eventually came, for the fourth Test of the 1990-91 series against England, was that it arrived at Steve's expense. Critics took issue with Waugh's apparent loss of concentration at times and his capacity to occasionally succumb to lazy-looking shots. The weakness was on show most evidently during his disastrous 1992-93 tour to Sri Lanka when he scored four successive Test ducks, but it would be hard to find a player more difficult to contain when in full flight. To complement his batting skills, he offered handy part-time bowling as a medium-pacer-***-offspinner and a remarkable penchant for spectacular saves and catches - he had few rivals to match his freakish brilliance in the field. His many highlights included a world-record partnership of 464 for the fifth wicket with Steve for New South Wales against Western Australia in 1990-91; his sterling 138 on Test debut; three commanding centuries as an opener at the 1996 World Cup tournament; and 126 to seal the Frank Worrell Trophy in West Indies in 1995. The lowest moment came in late 1998 when it emerged that he and Shane Warne accepted money from an Indian bookmaker during a tour of Sri Lanka four years earlier. A laconic, unassuming character, Waugh announced his retirement from international cricket without fuss in October 2002 after losing his place in the Test squad to play England. He played on for two seasons at New South Wales, but his elegant best was behind him.
So who in your opinion was the better batsman and what did you like about their respective styles?
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Will agree that the difference in averages is not an indicator of how close it is, Waugh must have faced some seriously good WI attacks early in his career.
