Tales of Waugh v2(-worma)

At the end of the last article linked in previous post, another 'lesson' for us...this one about 'differences' between coach and captain ;-)

At the end of the year, Waugh found himself negotiating contracts. He reveals just how low the Australian captain rated on the pay scale.

"I went in with modest expectations after being ranked the 13th most important player in Australia during the previous year's negotiations over a one-year contract," he writes.

"I thought the length of that deal was probably fair enough, but still somewhat galling, considering the team manager (Steve Bernard) had been given a three-year guarantee after a performance that I would consider steady at best.

"As it turned out, my surge from 13th to 12th in the rankings was merely cosmetic, but nevertheless a pleasant move and in complete contrast to the ambush that lay in waiting.

"I was told by the chairman of selectors (Trevor Hohns), in a statement that was backed up by the coach (John Buchanan), that there were one or two players unhappy with my captaincy.

"This was the first time I'd heard any such rumblings and I didn't appreciate the coach divulging his perceptions in this forum, especially when he'd had six weeks in the West Indies and a further two months afterwards to let me in on the issue.

"Further annoying for me was that no reasons, no issues, no clarity and no names were put forward, meaning I had absolutely no idea what the problem was or, in fact, whether there was a genuine concern."

Waugh asked team members about the claims and believes they were without real foundation and that a "link had been taken out of the chain of trust between Buck (Buchanan) and me that day".

And we all know this is not the only time when there was a difference between Waugh and Buchanan. Waugh was publicly known to have advocated for taking away Buchanan's rights in selectorial matters.

And some more revelations here, this time from the 1999 Caribbean tour. This time talking about the fragmentation in the team

"What I saw as a drinking culture was affecting more members of the squad than I had initially thought," he wrote.

"We were tending to socialise in the same groups (and) that had unhinged what should have been the joker in our pack: togetherness.

"As captain, I felt slightly let down by my most senior professional, Ian Healy, who was struggling to come to terms with the approaching end of his career and for the first time in his cricket life had let his discipline and work ethic slide.

"Mark Waugh had an average tour and didn't get involved enough in the running of the team, while some younger guys followed the leads and erroneous ways of others.

"I felt betrayed when later I discovered that secret pacts had been made by some of the guys to stay out past curfew"

To me, the most amazing aspect of all these revelations is that it was all happening in the midst of the 'dominant' phase of the team. That all this while, on the playing field, this team was blowing away all opposition. That does say a lot about the 'on-field' character of the team, and how, at times, that can work 'above' the off-field differences.

In the same article, he talks of dropping Warne, and his differences with Chappel, who called him a selfish cricketer.

Waugh also had a shot at the man he regards as his constant critic, former Test skipper and prominent TV commentator Chappell.

"Ian Chappell has always sweated on my blunders and reported them with an 'I told you so' mentality.

"He labelled me 'selfish' which for a cricketer is tantamount to being accused of treason.

"To say Chappell's criticism irked me would be an understatement, but I knew he was entitled to his opinion.

"(But) I have always felt that a critic must be either constructive or base his comments on fact."

And another one here. This one's about the Slater episode. As we know Slater had recently accused Waugh for his drop from test squad, and that too at a difficult time of his life. Waugh speaks about his involvement, and with no regrets related to the issue. He does blame CA for not doing enough about it, at the time, despite his request. Has some good words for Buchanan in this passage.

Finally...I feel sorry for the sales figures of Freddie's book ;-)

Update : Also check out the Waugh-Ambrose incident from '95 Carribean tour, also from the book, as quoted here. And more excerpts around the match-fixing aspects here. The Rashid Latif incidence is 'funny' :-)