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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.

PlayerPeriodMatWonLostNon-LostWin/Loss
SR Waugh1999-2004574190.8424.56
IVA Richards1980-1991502780.8403.38
CH Lloyd1974-19857436120.8383.00
WJ Cronje1994-20005327110.7922.45
RT Ponting2004-20107748160.7923.00

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.

17 Mar 2002: Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa celebrates making a century during the third day of the third test between South Africa and Australia, played at Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa. DIGITAL IMAGE Touchline Photo images are available to clinets in the UK, USA and Australia only. Mandatory Credit: Touchline Photo/Getty Images

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
PlayerPeriodMatRuns HSAvg10050
VVS Laxman 2001-20033651281108.523
R Dravid 2001-2003359523311922
BC Lara 1999-20033502213125.522
SR Tendulkar 2001-2003320112633.510
  • The top wicket takers in these won matches against Oz
PlayerPeriodMatWktsBBIAvg5W10W
Harbhajan Singh 2001-20012288-8414.7542
CA Walsh 1999-19992148-3919.0710
AR Caddick 2003-20031107-9421.511
NO Perry 1999-1999295-7029.1110
  • Waugh main weapons
BatsmanRuns BowlerWkts 
RT Ponting4293GD McGrath217
ML Hayden4105SK Warne175
JL Langer4064JN Gillespie143
SR Waugh3714B Lee137
AC Gilchrist3131SCG MacGill98
ME Waugh2025

By Staff

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