The Waugh brothers' greatest XI

It was on this day 26 years ago that Steve and Mark Waugh played together in Baggy Green for the first of 105 occasions. 

The destination was Trinidad in the Caribbean, famously the home of the legendary Brian Lara, against whom the twins would battle and be compared with for the following decade. 

The result was a rain-affected draw, in which Mark made 64 and took a wicket, and Steve made 26. 

Some five-and-a-half years earlier, Steve had made his Test debut on Boxing Day at the MCG. From there, he trod the toiler’s path in the shadow of the inscrutable Allan Border through the difficult ’80s, learning painful lessons that he stored up in his memory and unleashed ruthlessly more than a decade later from the helm of one of cricket’s greatest-ever teams.

His batting breakthrough came on the 1989 Ashes tour courtesy of a maiden century in his 27th match.

Mark arrived in Baggy Green in January of 1991, famously at the expense of his brother, and promptly made a hundred on debut.

The contrasting journeys neatly maintain the respective stereotypes that in many ways will forever define the brothers – Steve, the never-say-die fighter; Mark, the nonchalant genius – but those who bore close witness to their careers will know it is far less clear-cut than that, a point each twin regularly attested to.

Below, we’ve selected their 11 best performances with the bat, narrowed down from a combined 993 international innings.

11. Steve Waugh 102 v England, Jan 2003, Sydney

 Arguably the most famous innings on this list, Waugh was 37 by the time he peeled off this classic and certainly past his dominant best. The clock had ticked beyond 6.30pm on the third day of the fifth Ashes Test – a series Australia already led 4-0 – when the captain and hometown hero completed a fairytale hundred courtesy of a cover-driven four from the evening’s final offering. More than 40,000 had packed the SCG that day and it seemed as though not a single soul had left – barring brother Mark, who had a race meet to attend at nearby Harold Park – as they sensed something truly special in the making. In the months prior, speculation had been intense that Waugh’s Test career was on borrowed time, a suspicion that his omission from the World Cup squad selected a month earlier added credence to. As such, the innings was classic Waugh: against the odds, and with his team in trouble at 3-56, he delivered. The four from the last delivery to reach three figures was pure theatre, bringing the proverbial house down and buying the skipper another 12 months at the helm.

10. Mark Waugh 153* v India, Mar 1998, Bangalore

Australia’s first Test century on Indian soil in a dozen years highlighted the younger (by four minutes) Waugh’s class, and served as the best possible response to Sachin Tendulkar’s epic 177 in the first innings of this match. Waugh’s highest Test score was all the more impressive considering it was achieved under duress; throughout, he was suffering from a bout of gastro that left him dehydrated and debilitated. It didn’t stop him crashing four sixes in his 267-ball stay at the crease, which was dotted regularly with signature Waugh drives and glances. Maintaining a healthy tempo without ever being guilty of risking his wicket, the silky-smooth right-hander provided a blueprint for batting in subcontinental conditions.

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Mark Waugh tames the Indians in Bangalore // Getty Images

9. Steve Waugh 177 v England, Jun 1989, Leeds

 The 1980s version of Stephen Waugh was a different character to the hardened leader that evolved in the ensuing years. More carefree. More willing to play his shots. More like Mark? This was the moment the selectors hit paydirt, having waited almost four years for the Bankstown boy to deliver on his obvious promise with a maiden Test hundred to savour. For Waugh, a stunning 177 at Headingley – full of those classic Waugh-esque back-foot cover drives – was the moment his Ashes love affair began, and moreover, the moment his career ignited.

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Steve Waugh lashes through the off side // Getty Images

8. Mark Waugh 110 v NZ, Apr 1996, Chennai

Mark Waugh had been shifted up to the opener’s spot only three months prior and kick-started his top-order career with a century against Sri Lanka. By the time of Australia’s World Cup quarter-final clash with the Kiwis, he’d added another two to his collection and was showing no signs of slowing down. This innings topped the lot. Still to be influenced by the Twenty20 revolution, limited-overs totals in the mid-1990s were a far cry from today’s increasingly outrageous marks, so when Australia were set 287 to win at a venue with substandard lighting and a dew-soaked outfield, it was advantage New Zealand. In fact, only once at a World Cup had a higher total been chased. Enter Waugh. Reinvented and seemingly rejuvenated as an ODI opener, his 110 (112 balls) set the pace for the innings and laid the platform for what was in the end a comfortable chase. Unhurried, unfussed and unflustered, it was vintage Waugh.

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Mark Waugh on the attack in WC '96 // Getty Images

7. Steve Waugh 63* v West Indies, Apr 1995, Port of Spain

Australia lost the Test and made just 233 runs across two innings in what was the lowlight of their triumphant 1995 tour of the Caribbean. But the impact of Steve Waugh on this match set the tone for the historic decider that followed. Windies captain Richie Richardson won the toss and sent Australia in to bat on a pitch that was green and damp, before unleashing Messrs Ambrose and Walsh on the tourists. Forty-seven overs later, the Aussies had been skittled, and no-one had managed more than 18 … with the exception of Waugh, who stood defiant for three long hours against a barrage of short-pitched bowling. The innings included the famous Waugh-Ambrose face-off, as Australia’s most influential batsman ushered in a new era by refusing to be intimidated by the last in a long line of great West Indian quicks.

6. Mark Waugh 138 v England, Jan 1991, Adelaide

Mark Waugh became the 15th Australian to make a century on Test debut and an argument could easily be fashioned that it was the most graceful of the lot. England must have breathed a sigh of relief when Australia dropped an out-of-sorts Steve from the Test side, though his twin brother’s brilliance had regularly been on display at Essex so they had some warning as to what they were in for. Waugh himself was nonchalant about the beautifully struck hundred, which rescued Australia from 4-104 and delighted the Adelaide crowd. “It was just one of those days when everything came out of the middle,” he surmised afterward. There would be plenty more.

5. Steve Waugh 120* v SA, June 1999, Leeds

Mark had dominated the ’96 World Cup so it was only fair that three years on it was Steve’s turn. Australia had struggled through the early phase of the tournament and left themselves needing to surge through the back-end unbeaten. Waugh issued the rallying cry and his teammates followed, but the skipper also led from the front with bat in hand. This century at Leeds, against World Cup favourites South Africa and with Australia in strife at 3-48, is widely acclaimed as one of the finest in the history of limited-overs cricket. With Waugh on 56, Herschelle Gibbs infamously ‘dropped the World Cup’, and from there, a sense of inevitability pervaded the captain’s contribution, with the end result a century, a win, and ultimately, a second World Cup title for Australia.

4. Mark Waugh 115 v SA, Jan 1998, Adelaide

Mark Waugh survived dropped catches and controversy and overcome a reputation for being unable to bat to save a match with this Adelaide epic. Australia led 1-0 in the series but were 2-17 needing to hang on for a day to stop South Africa drawing level. Across almost seven hours and 305 deliveries – the most he ever faced in a Test innings – Waugh was the rock of the Australian innings, batting with a measure of caution many had believed was beyond him. Granted, he was spared by the generosity of South Africa’s fielders but the critical moment arrived with eight overs remaining in the match. Struck on the arm by a shorter delivery from Shaun Pollock, Waugh walked away from the wicket, as if to collect his thoughts, but in doing so his bat struck the stumps and a bail fell. After a prolonged umpire discussion, it was deemed dead ball, Waugh survived and so did Australia’s hopes of scraping a draw, which was secured less than an hour later.

3. Steve Waugh 108 & 116 v England, Jul 1997, Manchester

OK so we’re cheating a little here – this was actually two innings, but given they occurred in the same match, we’ll bracket them together. With Australia 1-0 down going into this third Test, Mark Taylor’s decision to bat first on a juicy Old Trafford pitch under cloudy skies raised eyebrows aplenty. What unfurled was a classic Waugh scenario: Australia in early trouble at 3-42, in need of hero, and guess who delivers? Fending off short balls in between rain breaks from a quality pace attack in Darren Gough, Dean Headley and Andy Caddick, Waugh battled hard as teammates fell around him. The score slipped to 7-160 but he remained resolute, steering his side to 235 – a respectable total on such a difficult track. England managed just 162 in response, and second time around Waugh came to the crease for the tourists with three fewer runs on the board. He duly responded with another hundred, carved out over six hours despite constant pain from an injured hand, to set up an emphatic Australian win.

2. Mark Waugh 116 v SA, Mar 1997, Port Elizabeth

Mark later described this one as the best innings he played, while his captain, Mark Taylor, declared it the best win he’d been involved in. Australia won the first Test by an innings, but South Africa had fought back hard in Port Elizabeth, skittling the tourists for 108 and setting a target of 270 to win a match in which neither side had managed more than 209. South Africa looked on track to level the series at 2-30, and later 5-192, but Waugh was the thorn in their side, overcoming the odds – and a desperate Proteas attack led by Allan Donald – to steer his side to within touching distance of a victory that was sealed with a six from Ian Healy.

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Mark Waugh late cuts in Port Elizabeth // Getty Images

1. Steve Waugh 200 & Mark Waugh 126 v West Indies, Apr-May 1995, Kingston

Though they both played for many a year beyond 1995, this was the partnership that cemented the legacy of the brothers Waugh. Billed as the unofficial world championship of Tests, the four matches against West Indies – who hadn’t lost a series to anyone in the preceding 15 years – represented a shift in the power balance of world cricket. At the heart of Australia’s ascension was Steve and Mark, a fact borne out by their heroics in the fourth and deciding Test of this series. The tourists had slumped to 3-37 in reply to West Indies’ 265 when they paired up in the middle. In under four hours, they wrested control of the match, adding 231 for the fourth wicket in what would remain the highest – and most important – partnership between the brothers in their illustrious Test careers. Mark’s contribution had been typically rapid and telling, while Steve batted on, and on, making a career-best 200 to push Australia to a huge lead and set up a stirring innings victory.

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The brothers during their memorable Sabina Park stand // Getty Images