November 25 Monday 2002
Waugh fired up by Hussain's stalking tactics

ADELAIDE: Steve Waugh said Sunday the tactic of opposing England captain Nasser Hussain to treat him as a struggling batsman had fired him up in the second Ashes Test.

Hussain made his intentions known when Waugh came to the crease on Saturday by setting a spread field for the Aussie captain to encourage his batting partner Ricky Ponting to hit a single and get Waugh on strike.

And when Waugh was facing the bowling, Hussain crowded him with fielders to exploit a perceived Waugh weakness to short-pitched deliveries. But the tactic backfired when the pugnacious Australian skipper scored 34 off 40 balls, his innings finishing with the English field scattered around the Adelaide Oval.

"I wasn't insulted but it got me going a bit," Waugh said after Australia's innings and 51-run victory over Hussain's team here on Sunday to go two-up in the best-of-five Test match series.

"I love a good contest and in some ways when something like that does happen it does fire you up a bit more, so I think probably in a funny sort of way it did me a favour." Waugh, the most experienced Test player in world cricket with 153 matches, averages 49.42 in Tests overall, but only 26.36 in his past 14 matches.

Hussain defended his tactics by saying: "That was basically (about) a bloke (Ponting) who was 150 not out and another bloke (Waugh) who was struggling a bit and we had the new ball and I knew who our team would rather bowl to at that moment.

"I would have done it to any player in that similar situation. They (Australia) would have done the same to any England player in a difficult situation. "You have to capitalise if one player is going well and the other is struggling for runs a little bit."

Australia, under Waugh's captaincy, have won 10 of their past 11 Tests, the last defeat coming against South Africa by five wickets in Durban in March this year. Waugh has won 31 of 42 Tests he skippered at a winning percentage of 73.8.

Australia, under Waugh, strung together 16 consecutive Test wins from 1999-2001, and Waugh does not think that record will be broken. "You need a bit of luck to get there, a bit of help, but if you score quickly, you take the (risk of) rain out of the equation, which we've done here," Waugh said after the Test, which was interrupted by rain. 
"When we play aggressively you have more chance of winning more Test matches, but I don't think anyone will get 16 (wins) again."