Few batsmen have remained true to what lies at the other side of monikers, bouquets of rich respect and nicknames.
Although he was cool and determined, Steve Waugh’s batting didn’t warrant a comparison with the greats of the game. You weren’t star-struck when Waugh came out to bat.
Yet, his batting compelled you to think of the many possibilities that could come true if one applied oneself.
Many to this day consider ‘Junior’ Waugh- his brother Mark- a more gifted and fluent batsman, someone who was more of a rhythm batsman if you like.
Why We Regard Steve Waugh
Waugh hailed Archer’s intimidating fast bowling (Foxsports.com.au)
But when he came out to bat, more often than not, Steve Waugh hung in there. There was an aura about the man.
He commanded respect. He fought fire with fire. He backed himself. And he went for his strokes.
He did that time and again, often rescuing Australia from the very brink or edge of despair.
And in doing all of that, Steve Waugh emerged as a tough nut to crack, championing at his prime, a side that was considered ‘invincible.’
So when someone who’s struck 32 Test runs and nearly 11,000 runs in the longest format appreciates a cricketer, you would much rather pay him a listen and have a think.
What Waugh Thinks of Archer
Recently, Steven Waugh heaped tons of praise on Jofra Archer. “I can’t say I have ever seen someone bowl like that.
He ambles in, gets very close to the crease and makes most of his height.”
In the just-concluded Second Test- held at Lord’s- it was Jofra Archer who commanded all the headlines.
First, for making an impressive debut, one where he claimed 5 wickets (in totality) and gave away only 91 runs.
And then, he was also responsible for felling the in-form and dangerous Steve Smith, Waugh’s great compatriot.
When a sharp and gripping bouncer made way through Smith’s defenses and contacted the grillwork of the helmet, you felt a major warrior was displaced from the battlefield.
In the context of the match, it was a big moment, even as it wasn’t a wicket.
The X-Factor
Archer’s bouncer derailed Steve Smith at Lord’s (Sky Sports)
Cameras zoomed in on Smith, lying motionless on Lord’s lush green turf, and at some distance, there stood Archer, eager and hungry akin to a predator out to get a prey.
That said, it’s not just the histrionics and the media hype that promulgate Jofra Archer to court the attention he’s come to adorn.
Everything about his cricket suggests the ‘X-factor’ that the Barbados-born fast bowler brings to the game. And that’s exactly what Steve Waugh reflected on, in hailing the 24-year-old’s match-winning talent.
Waugh touched upon perhaps the greatest source that makes fast bowlers lethal and one of a kind: intimidation. He hailed Jofra Archer- an exciting new addition to an otherwise promising pace attack- for being an intimidating fast bowler, the kinds for whom flustering batsmen doesn’t really seem that much of a task.
That’s not all. Waugh was quoted as saying, “You can make things happen on a flat pitch and potentially get wickets in a clumps. He is a real asset to England.”
Perhaps what obviously adds to Archer’s case is that he’s got age on his side, with there being plenty of cricketing years ahead of him.
What must be regarded though is that the right-armer was immediately able to make an impression in Jimmy Anderson’s absense- just how cool is that?