September 26 Thursday 2002
Waugh under no extra pressure despite run drought

COLOMBO: Australia captain Steve Waugh has denied that he feels under any extra pressure ahead of his side's Test series with Pakistan in Sri Lanka and Sharjah.

Waugh arrived in Colombo with his brother Mark on Wednesday to prepare for the first Test after a year that has seen him struggle for runs and lose the one-day captaincy to Ricky Ponting. The 37-year-old has failed to score a hundred in his last nine Tests and knows he cannot continue to under-achieve with the bat if he is to remain in the side, let alone stay captain.

England skipper Nasser Hussain said as much in a recent interview, but Waugh said he was under no additional stress. "I know about Nasser's comments, about being under pressure, but I don't feel under any more pressure than him, Sourav Ganguly or any other captain or player," Waugh told reporters on Wednesday. "You expect that, it's why you play, it's not a free ride. I expect to score runs and stay in the side. "The last 17 years I've felt I've been playing for my place. That's the way it always is in professional sport, there are no guarantees, but there's also no more pressure than usual." 

Waugh is clearly near the end of his career, but said he was not looking too far ahead. However, he was equally keen to play down talk of his imminent international retirement. "I'm 37 and I won't be playing when I'm 47 but I've not dwelt on those things.

"I never dwelt on when I would start playing for Australia so I'm not going to think about when I'll finish playing. I don't want to put an end date on things because when you do you play accordingly. I want to play as well as I can in the next game and then look at the game after that.

"Having a certain date makes it too final as you wind down and forget why you're playing the game. I just want to play good cricket and enjoy it this season. They are the two things I'm looking forward to."

In the immediate future, Waugh said, he was keen to get back to doing what he had always done best, putting runs on the board for Australia, starting with the series against Pakistan. "I've done well over the last 10 years and had one-off season in that time last summer and not many others in the world can say that," he said. "Sure my form wasn't great too great last year, but I know I can bounce back."

Waugh believes he has more to offer than just his captaincy but admitted that if the runs continued to be scarce, his leadership alone would not be enough to keep him in the side. "I would like to think I can contribute in other ways but runs are why you are picked. You never pick a captain on his captaincy alone, he's picked because he's worth his place in the side and that is the position I want."

Waugh arrived in Sri Lanka after a five-week spell with English county Kent. "One of the main reasons I went there was to prepare for this series and I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it. It was good cricket, I felt I played well and had some time in the middle in the last match, which was crucial. I would have been poorly prepared otherwise with six months off."

Australia's series with Pakistan starts on October 3 with the first Test in Colombo. The two teams will then move on to Sharjah in the UAE for the final two Tests. The series was moved from Pakistan after the Australia team refused to tour owing to security fears.

Regarding the Pakistan series, he said: "We know some of their senior players are not playing and it'll be a bit difficult for young players, but still it is important for us to play good cricket," said Waugh. "I can't say it will be 3-0 because there are other factors involved, like the weather, but we'd like to win each Test. We have to make sure we play well."