Aussie legend Steve Waugh rubbishes bits of gossip group have ventured out in front of Powder
THERE have been alarming gossipy tidbits this late spring the Australian cricket group may have gone delicate.
Created - 6 years ago
THERE have been troubling rumours this summer that the Australian cricket team might have gone soft.
That the one-time meanest machine in world cricket has turned into a bunch of barefooted hippies.
A group communing with nature and less likely to sledge opponents than sing to them about apple trees, honey bees and snow-white turtle doves.
Mention this possibility to Steve Waugh and those infamous steely eyes begin to narrow.
Waugh, 54, is back in the Aussie camp for the first time in 15 years, since he retired having led his nation to an EIGHTH consecutive Ashes triumph.
The side Waugh skippered between 1997 and 2004 was possibly the greatest Test team of all.
They were not just blessed with outstanding talent but with a ruthlessness and a reputation for inflicting 'mental disintegration' on the Poms.
Since Waugh quit, the Aussies have travelled to England for four Ashes series and lost each time.
As the latest episode of cricket's greatest rivalry arrives with the First Test at Edgbaston on Thursday, there have been suggestions the Aussies will be in nicey-nicey mode.
But when Australians get the scent of English blood in their nostrils, there is usually a snarling intensity to their play.
Many believe the aftermath of the Sandpapergate scandal, which sees Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft returning from year-long bans, might take the edge off proceedings.
Waugh, acting as a 'mentor' to Tim Paine's team, is having none of it, however.
He said: "There aren't going to be any shrinking violets out there. This side is going to be combative, that is the Australian way.
"They know they can't cross over the line. What happened last year has had a huge impact, but these guys have played in a fantastic spirit since then.
"We are brought up to play in a positive, aggressive manner and I don't see that being any different in this series.
"It's an Ashes series so expect them to play in a positive frame of mind with strong body language.
"A lot of people said my team were ruthless, but for me the definition of being ruthless is fulfilling your potential and playing the best you can.
"That's what I wanted my team to do and if they said it was ruthless that was fine by me."
Waugh has focused on business, charity work and documentary-making since hanging up his baggy green cap.
Yet in the build-up to an Ashes series, the old competitive glow remains.
When it was mentioned England's director of cricket Ashley Giles had feared his team might have struggled to cope had they lost a thrilling World Cup final to New Zealand, the former world No 1 batsman spat: "I'm just glad he's not in the Australian camp. . . "
And when asked to define his old mantra of 'mental disintegration', he instantly replied: "Disorientating the opposition through extreme pressure."
Before adding: "I just made that up!"
Waugh does believe the increasing camaraderie between rival international players -- usually forged by spells in the Indian Premier League -- has made Test cricket less confrontational.
He added: "Playing in the IPL, the players haven't really got the mystique and you often know the opposition a lot better.
"When I was playing the West Indies in the 1980s, we didn't really know their players and they didn't talk too much to you.
"So you sort of had a fear factor just with their body language and not knowing them.
"Maybe teams who played against us felt the same. Maybe these days they are disarmed because they play regularly against each other.
"You can't really have that power over the opposition any more because they all know each other -- and with cricket there's a fair bit of bluff going on."
Waugh says Australia's trio of ball-tamperers will be able to cope with abuse at the English fortress of Edgbaston -- where the hosts demolished the old enemy in a World Cup semi-final less than three weeks ago.
But he said: "They've got to be united. There is going to be a lot of noise around with the excitement at Edgbaston, which is seen as a place where England play well. That's a great challenge but they'll be up for the fight.
"English crowds are usually the best in the world for acknowledging if the opposition play well. There is a small element who will make it tough but that is water off a duck's back."
Waugh is still the last Aussie skipper to win at Edgbaston in any format.
And he admitted: "When you're in that dominant mode, you think it's going to last forever.
"So it was a surprise when we lost that first series here, then the second and third . . . but hopefully we'll turn it around this time."
That the one-time meanest machine in world cricket has turned into a bunch of barefooted hippies.
A group communing with nature and less likely to sledge opponents than sing to them about apple trees, honey bees and snow-white turtle doves.
Mention this possibility to Steve Waugh and those infamous steely eyes begin to narrow.
Waugh, 54, is back in the Aussie camp for the first time in 15 years, since he retired having led his nation to an EIGHTH consecutive Ashes triumph.
The side Waugh skippered between 1997 and 2004 was possibly the greatest Test team of all.
They were not just blessed with outstanding talent but with a ruthlessness and a reputation for inflicting 'mental disintegration' on the Poms.
Since Waugh quit, the Aussies have travelled to England for four Ashes series and lost each time.
As the latest episode of cricket's greatest rivalry arrives with the First Test at Edgbaston on Thursday, there have been suggestions the Aussies will be in nicey-nicey mode.
But when Australians get the scent of English blood in their nostrils, there is usually a snarling intensity to their play.
Many believe the aftermath of the Sandpapergate scandal, which sees Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft returning from year-long bans, might take the edge off proceedings.
Waugh, acting as a 'mentor' to Tim Paine's team, is having none of it, however.
He said: "There aren't going to be any shrinking violets out there. This side is going to be combative, that is the Australian way.
"They know they can't cross over the line. What happened last year has had a huge impact, but these guys have played in a fantastic spirit since then.
"We are brought up to play in a positive, aggressive manner and I don't see that being any different in this series.
"It's an Ashes series so expect them to play in a positive frame of mind with strong body language.
"A lot of people said my team were ruthless, but for me the definition of being ruthless is fulfilling your potential and playing the best you can.
"That's what I wanted my team to do and if they said it was ruthless that was fine by me."
Waugh has focused on business, charity work and documentary-making since hanging up his baggy green cap.
Yet in the build-up to an Ashes series, the old competitive glow remains.
When it was mentioned England's director of cricket Ashley Giles had feared his team might have struggled to cope had they lost a thrilling World Cup final to New Zealand, the former world No 1 batsman spat: "I'm just glad he's not in the Australian camp. . . "
And when asked to define his old mantra of 'mental disintegration', he instantly replied: "Disorientating the opposition through extreme pressure."
Before adding: "I just made that up!"
Waugh does believe the increasing camaraderie between rival international players -- usually forged by spells in the Indian Premier League -- has made Test cricket less confrontational.
He added: "Playing in the IPL, the players haven't really got the mystique and you often know the opposition a lot better.
"When I was playing the West Indies in the 1980s, we didn't really know their players and they didn't talk too much to you.
"So you sort of had a fear factor just with their body language and not knowing them.
"Maybe teams who played against us felt the same. Maybe these days they are disarmed because they play regularly against each other.
"You can't really have that power over the opposition any more because they all know each other -- and with cricket there's a fair bit of bluff going on."
Waugh says Australia's trio of ball-tamperers will be able to cope with abuse at the English fortress of Edgbaston -- where the hosts demolished the old enemy in a World Cup semi-final less than three weeks ago.
But he said: "They've got to be united. There is going to be a lot of noise around with the excitement at Edgbaston, which is seen as a place where England play well. That's a great challenge but they'll be up for the fight.
"English crowds are usually the best in the world for acknowledging if the opposition play well. There is a small element who will make it tough but that is water off a duck's back."
Waugh is still the last Aussie skipper to win at Edgbaston in any format.
And he admitted: "When you're in that dominant mode, you think it's going to last forever.
"So it was a surprise when we lost that first series here, then the second and third . . . but hopefully we'll turn it around this time."
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