Australia under Steve Waugh was one of the most dominant tests in test cricket history. New South Wales man lead the Aussies in 74 tests next only to Alan Border and Ponting. In that 41 test, mighty Baggy Green lost only nine tests. His win-loss ratio of 4.56 is by far the best among all skippers who lead the side in at least 50 tests.
Player | Period | Mat | Won | Lost | Non-Lost | Win/Loss |
SR Waugh | 1999-2004 | 57 | 41 | 9 | 0.842 | 4.56 |
IVA Richards | 1980-1991 | 50 | 27 | 8 | 0.840 | 3.38 |
CH Lloyd | 1974-1985 | 74 | 36 | 12 | 0.838 | 3.00 |
WJ Cronje | 1994-2000 | 53 | 27 | 11 | 0.792 | 2.45 |
RT Ponting | 2004-2010 | 77 | 48 | 16 | 0.792 | 3.00 |
The opposition required an inhuman effort to dismantle this team. Out of these nine defeats, six was almost improbable. Wisden special, fourth inns magic, rare follow on defeat. Such was a dominance of Waugh that even sponsors gave him a Conqueror tag for his bat. India and the West Indies were the only sides two defeat the Iceman team more than once. There are only five skippers to overhaul mighty Aussies, Ganguly, Lara thrice each, Boucher, Naseer Hussain, and Jayasuriya one-match apiece. Sri Lanka and India remained final frontiers for Waugh where he never won a series he played.
Out of 18 series he lead the side , Australia won 13, lost 2 and drawn 3. His Ashes record is remarkable winning nine out of 10 matches.
- 1999 : Bridgetown vs West Indies
Lara magical 153 runs knock at Bridgetown to win by 1 wicket. This was voted as second-best test knock by Wisden in 2000 next only to Bradman 270.
- 2003 : St Johns vs West Indies
West Indies chased down 418 highest ever fourth inns total, courtesy Chanderpaul and Sarwan match-winning hundred at St Johns
2001 : Kolkata vs India
India won the Kolkata test after follow on Laxman 59,281 runs, Harbhajan Singh hat-trick. The only third instance of a team winning after being enforced the follow-on, Australia were on the losing side in all of these three matches.
2002 : Durban vs South Africa
South Africa chased down 340/5 highest ever in South African soil, Durban. Gibbs blasted a hundred.
2003 : Adelaide vs India
Dravid 233,72 Adelaide, after scoring 556 runs in first inns. Ponting 242 is the highest in losing cause.
2001 : Chennai vs India
Chennai thriller by 2 wickets , a series winning match.
Other three matches were not so difficult
- 1999: Kandy test SR Waugh was in hospital so did not bat
- 2003: Michael Vaughan183 Sydney
- 1999: Lara 213 Kingston
VVS Laxman, Lara, and Rahul Dravid were the chief architect of these defeats. The bowling counterparts were Indian offspinner Harbhajan and Windies workhorse Walsh.
- The top run scorers in these won matches against Oz
Player | Period | Mat | Runs | HS | Avg | 100 | 50 |
VVS Laxman | 2001-2003 | 3 | 651 | 281 | 108.5 | 2 | 3 |
R Dravid | 2001-2003 | 3 | 595 | 233 | 119 | 2 | 2 |
BC Lara | 1999-2003 | 3 | 502 | 213 | 125.5 | 2 | 2 |
SR Tendulkar | 2001-2003 | 3 | 201 | 126 | 33.5 | 1 | 0 |
- The top wicket takers in these won matches against Oz
Player | Period | Mat | Wkts | BBI | Avg | 5W | 10W | |
Harbhajan Singh | 2001-2001 | 2 | 28 | 8-84 | 14.75 | 4 | 2 | |
CA Walsh | 1999-1999 | 2 | 14 | 8-39 | 19.07 | 1 | 0 | |
AR Caddick | 2003-2003 | 1 | 10 | 7-94 | 21.5 | 1 | 1 | |
NO Perry | 1999-1999 | 2 | 9 | 5-70 | 29.11 | 1 | 0 |
- Waugh main weapons
Batsman | Runs | Bowler | Wkts |
RT Ponting | 4293 | GD McGrath | 217 |
ML Hayden | 4105 | SK Warne | 175 |
JL Langer | 4064 | JN Gillespie | 143 |
SR Waugh | 3714 | B Lee | 137 |
AC Gilchrist | 3131 | SCG MacGill | 98 |
ME Waugh | 2025 |