Stephen Rodger Waugh, or Steve Waugh as he is popularly known is one of the most successful batsmen and captains in the world. Born in 1965 in Canterbury, Sydney, this right handed batsman played for the Australian national team for nearly two decades. Apart from Australia, he has also played for Ireland. He has ventured into county cricket as well and has played for teams such as Kent and Somerset.

Steve Waugh made his international test debut in 1985 against India and his one day international debut against New Zealand at Melbourne in 1986. From there on, he shaped a cricketing career complete with 10927 test runs and 7569 ODI runs. He started as a batsman as well as bowler, but could not hold on to his place in the Australian team for so long as 18 months, when he lost his place to his younger twin Mark Waugh. This was his catharsis. Later on however, he was recalled and he made some changes in his game to stay on. Some of the changes were that he slowed down on his batting, wherein instead of the usual habit of flailing the deliveries, he waited for the right ones to score of. He also gave up his bowling, but this was largely due to his back problems. But from now on, there was no looking back for this cricketing giant. Some of his most memorable innings include the one in which he scored 200 at Jamaica in 1994-95 and his twin hundreds at Old Trafford in 1997 which led to the Ashes win for the Aussies. Thereafter, he succeeded Mark Taylor as the test team captain and led his team in 15 of the record 16 consecutive wins.

With a strike rate of over 75 in the ODIs and nearly 50 in the test matches, he was a player who held his own in the international arena. However, despite his contribution to Australian cricket, he was unceremoniously left of the ODI squad of the team after a dismal performance by the Australian team in the 2001-02 VB series. He, therefore, played his last ODI against South Africa in 2002 at Perth. Nevertheless, he continued as the test captain and led his team to yet another Ashes win in 2002-03. It was under his tenure that Australia defeated Pakistan to win the 1999 World Cup in England, turned Australia’s fortunes drastically and brought Australia to the No.1 spot at the international level. At that time, he was only the second Australian with Tom Moody to win the world cup twice. As successful as a captain he was, his one wish was to capture the final frontier, i.e. to beat the Indian team in India which was only later achieved by his successor, Ricky Ponting.

Apart from being a sportsperson, Steve Waugh was also a charitable person who helped set up a charity for the daughters of lepers in Kolkata in India. He also wrote a series of successful tour dairies. He finally retired from international cricket after the 2003-04 test series against India, the same team against which he had debuted.

Steve Waugh is a legend in the world of cricket. Likewise, he has been honored with prestigious awards like the ‘Allan Border Medal’ which he received in 2001. He is also the winner of the ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ award for the year 1989 and ‘Wisden Australian Cricketer of the Year’ for the year 2000-01. For a player so great, these awards are but a reminder to his contribution to the game which shall be remembered for years to come.

He plays all the shots given in the book with a full flourish of the bat and knows only to attack; and his breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. He can be called a gambler or even a buccaneer but most importantly, he is a leader. Called ‘Punter’ by his mates and a national hero by his fans, he is none other than Ricky Thomas Ponting.

Born in Launceston, this Tasmanian devil got into domestic cricket playing for the Tasmanian Tigers only at the age of 17 and had the baggy green on his head by the time he was 20. Being brought into the international level at the ripe age of 20 meant that there was something special about him. Described by the great Rodney Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ricky Ponting made sure he proved his point by scoring a valuable 96 against Sri Lanka in his debut Test match at Perth. He might have missed out on a century back then but now he has made way too many. In One Day Internationals, he has made 22 of them whereas in Tests, he is on a high with 33 tons to his name.

In 2002, his performance with the bat was scinitillating and he received the well deserved title of One Day International Player of the Year. This achievement of his adding to his growing maturity and his dedication to his team saw him getting the captain’s crown which he has been wearing till date. He was captain for hardly a year when he had to lead his team for the World Cup 2003. Ponting, who showed no signs of nervousness or carelessness, performed brilliantly with a 100% success rate and after thrashing the Indian bowling attack in the finals with a valiant 140, he and his team went on to become the world champions for the 3rd time.

Having amassed more than 9,000 runs in both forms of the game, and having an average of 60 in Tests, he looked as an ideal option to be made as captain once Steve Waugh retired from tests. And so after the series against India, Ponting took over as the skipper in 2004. Batting-wise his first year as captain was one to forget, but he began his second with 207 against Pakistan, joining Don Bradman and Greg Chappell as the only Australians to reach four double-centuries.

As 2005 came, so did the long awaited Ashes. Ponting looked eagerly to win his first ever Ashes series but this time he had to wait. As the series got underway, his team showed cracks that widened as each day passed. Ponting tried his best to fight back as he crafted a heroic 156 to help save the Old Trafford Test but the writing was already on the wall. On September 12,2005, Australia lost the urn to the English after 20 years. Ponting became the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series. The result hurt and the pain lingered throughout the next summer but he was still looking for revenge and he finally got his chance. Australia let all their steam out as they thrashed the English with a 5-0 whitewash and gained back the Ashes in the most emphatic way possible. Ponting was Man of the Series rightfully so as Australia became the first team in 86 years to achieve an Ashes cleansweep and his 576 runs at 82.28 confirmed him as the game’s modern master.

The world’s leading strokeplayer, he finished 2005 with 1544 runs and posted twin hundreds three times in five months, joining Sunil Gavaskar as the only other man to achieve the feat, and the double effort in his 100th Test at the SCG was magnificent. He followed up with another 1333 runs in 2006 and owns more centuries than anyone but Sachin, Brian and Sunny. Frighteningly, he is far from finished.

His nickname is ‘Mr. Cricket’, and this, more than anything else, illustrates his prowess on the field. Michael Hussey, a left handed opening batsman of the Australian team who has a way of playing his game like Bradman did in his time,can be called the new man on the block. His story is not the usual rags to riches tale that is told by every rising star. He had always been a dedicated player to cricket who wished to be in the International side someday. But while the 3 titans of Australia, i.e. Langer, Ponting and Hayden were dominating the game, Hussey’s chances of making it were getting slimmer. Then as an act of fate, due to an injury to Justin Langer, he was picked for the side and finally debuted at the age of 29 against India in 2004 at Perth, which by all standards was a pretty late debut with regards to his age. Add to this the fact that by the time he got to play for his country, he had already scored 15313 first class runs playing for county teams such as Durham, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire. A record for an Australian before wearing the coveted baggy green.

Michael is a very well suited opening batsman for his team, largely because of his style. :Like every lefty, he has his own sense of class and has a tidy, compact style. He is also scrupulous at practice. Skilled both of his front foot and back, he can compromise with almost every bowl that comes to him and makes most of it. All these features of his, makes his game worth watching once he is at his best.

No one can question the skills of Mike Hussey. He has an average of approximately 66 in the ODIs and quite surprisingly, an average of 80 in the test matches which by far is something that has not been seen for a long time. His strike rate is an impressive 91.33 in the ODIs and has scored over 3300 runs in both forms of the game combined in as little as 77 matches. It was only after 29 innings that his average dropped below 100 in the shorter version of the game. A feat that could may have been performed only by the Don himself.

Some of his memorable innings include the one in which he scored 122 in the second test against South Africa putting on a 107 run last wicket partnership with Glenn McGrath. He also owns the mark for the fastest player to 1000 Test runs after taking only 166 days to achieve this feat. Hussey or also ‘Huss’ might have come to the spotlight a little late with his hay days being spent in the domestic level, but he has made up for whatever he might have lost in these years with quick runs and in no time. Along with being an agile fielder and a calm middle order batsman with skillful stroke playing abilities, he has even worn the skipper’s cap during the Chappel-Hadlee series against New Zealand. All this makes him indispensable for the Australian team. He is therefore well suited for the ‘One Day International Player of the Year’ award that he received for the year 2006.

His calm outlook, strong team qualities and ability to perform outstandingly in any situation be it at the opening slot or at the death has given him the status of a titan in the cricketing world. He is yet to show the world what he is truly capable of and will definitely get the chance to do so in the upcoming World Cup. While selectors have already sparked debates about his future leadership possibilities. He is happy playing his game for now. All-in-all, he proves to be a very promising player for the Australian cricket team, one who will be the shape of things to come for Australia.

Matthew Hayden is a left handed opening batsman of the Australian cricket team. Born in 1971, this 35 years old batsman is powerful hitter of the ball and an excellent team player. However, one of his greatest strengths is the fact he is also a fisherman and loves to fish with his best mate and partner in crime, Symonds and is also a surfer, which gives him an aggressive stance and the physical power to batter the ball throughout the field. This makes Hayden, on of the strongest weapon in the Australian batting line up.

Matt Hayden made is ODI debut against England at Manchester in 1993 and his test debut in the following year against South Africa at Johannesburg. Thereafter, his initial tests were exclusively against South Africa and West Indies. There were, however some complaints regarding his test playing abilities mainly due to the way in which he played around his front pad. But his mental and physical strength made it possible for him to beat his critics and achieve amazing heights in batsmanship. He was good in the tests especially since the 2000-01 tour of India, and this fact is made obvious by his test match stats. In the 159 innings that he has been on the pitch, he has scored 7739 runs with an average of 53. He also has a mammoth high score of 380 which he had scored against Zimbabwe, scoring the highest score by a batsman in Test matches at that time. All this goes on to show the kind of force he is in the Australian arsenal.

That he is an excellent player in the one day format of the game as well was a fact that became known belatedly, but by the time of the 2003 World Cup, he was among the top three batsman in both forms of the game. His stats in the ODI format also speak volumes of his skills in them. He has scored 4840 runs in his 130 ODI innings with an average of over 41 and a high score of unbeaten 181. He is also an exceptional fielder, especially at the slips and the gully.

Hayden experienced a drop in form during the 2004-05 season and was therefore replaced by Michael Clarke as the one-day opener for his team. His poor performance and inefficient footwork continued against England, and his form saw an upward trend only towards the end of the series at The Oval where he managed to score 138 runs. Thereafter, he became a more patient player than he was earlier. But he still continued scrambling runs for his team henceforth scoring three hundreds in successive matches thereby becoming only the third player after Bradman and Barrington to score four in a row twice. Thereafter he also passed 1000 runs in that year for the fifth time. In the final match of the 2006-07 Chappell-Hadlee series he thumped an Australian-record 181 off 166 balls, which included ten sixes and again showed his impressive power. Each of these instances proved that he was a player whose credentials could not be questioned, be it in the tests or the One Day Internationals.

Matthew Hayden has also received awards which he can rightfully boast of. The most notable ones include the ‘Allan Border Medal’ in the year 2002, the ‘Test Player of the Year’ in 2002 and the ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ in 2003.‘Haydos’, as he is fondly called, is therefore a force to reckon with in the Australian team. A cricketer whose contribution to the game will be remembered for generations to come.

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1998, Wisden Australia Cricketer of the Year 1999, Allan Border Medalist 2000, Test Player of the year 2000, One Day International Player of the year 2001, Wisden Australia Cricketer of the year 2005-06. These are just a few of his accolades that he has received over the years in this game. Having earned the title of ‘One of the best fast bowlers’ in the history of the game, this man has no bounds as to how much he has achieved in just a matter of time. This living legend is none other than Glenn Donald McGrath, the eldest and the most experienced person in the Australian side. After playing for New South Wales for a couple of seasons, his international cricketing career started in 1993, when he was picked into the Australian test team, replacing the all time great Merv Hughes. Although after showing a promising character, he didn’t make the impact that he wanted to at first but as he got better in his line and length, the no. of wickets in his kitty started increasing as well and soon became a nightmare to all his victims. His specialty is to take the big wickets of the opposition, his favorites being Mike Atherton and Brian Lara.

An unremitting off-stump line and an immaculate length with effective pace and bounce is what makes this Right Arm Feast-Medium different from the rest. Along with being a regular wicket taker in matches, he is one of the most economical bowlers as well. In tests he has an economy of 2.5 runs per over and in One Day Internationals, that form of cricket where even the most consistent of bowlers sometimes get battered and bashed, McGrath holds an astonishing economy of only 3.86. Rare are the occasions when one will actually see him get hit all around the ground and even if he is hit for a boundary, he makes sure that he gets back at him with a gem of a delivery. Records have tumbled when McGrath has bowled on his day. During the World Cup 2003, he outclassed the Namibians with figures of 7 for 15 and made the minnows taste the Australian curry. McGrath rewrote Test History as well after becoming the highest wicket taker among the fast bowlers after surpassing Courtney Walsh’s tally of 519 wickets.

But life has not always been fair to McGrath. Although his bowling form has never seemed out of shape, his obituary has been prepared a few times. He was doubted after coming back in 2004 from ankle surgery which even threatened his chances of reaching 500 wickets and there were similar fears two years later following a long lay-off to care for his wife, Jane when she had been diagnosed with cancer. But as always, he came back into the side and once again brought out amazing results. In 2004, he became the first fast bowler to play 100 matches in the Baggy Green and only three months later, he knocked down the brittle Pakistani side with figures of 8 for 24, the second-best figures by an Australian. Nicknamed the title ‘Pigeon’ and ‘Millard’, McGrath is also well known for his batting as well. He has gained the highest number of ducks by a No. 11 Australian but surprisingly, has also scored 61 at that position, his only fifty and the 3rd highest score by a No.11. batsman.

After helping Australia whitewash England with a 5-0 victory in the Ashes and retrieving the urn, McGrath announced his retirement from test cricket and bid goodbye at his home ground, the SCG after scalping his 563rd and final test wicket. The World Cup 2007 will be his final international tour after which he will bid adieu to cricket and become a full time-husband and dad.

A man who was the shortest in the team but who aimed for the highest. A man who loved cricket more than his life and gave it a whole new meaning. He is someone who may not be alive in person, but he comes to life whenever someone hits a boundary or raises his bat to the crowd. He is the father figure of cricket and by far, the best batsman in the history of the game. He is, ‘The Don’.

Sir Donald George Bradman was, without any question, the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket, indeed in the history of all ball games. To start with, he had a deep and undying love of cricket, as well, of course, as exceptional natural ability. It was always said he could have become a champion at squash or tennis or golf or billiards, had he preferred them to cricket. The fact that, as a boy, he sharpened his reflexes and developed his strokes by hitting golf ball with a cricket stump as it rebounded off a water tank attests to his eye, fleetness of foot and, even when young, his rare powers of concentration. This gift of his had to be shown to the world and so he decided to do it with his true love, cricket.

This young lad from New South Wales came into the spotlight when he was just 20 years old. He made his debut against England at Brisbane on the November 30th 1928 and from that date onwards, he never looked back. In just a matter of a few months, Don Bradman was the name on everyone’s lips. His great eye-hand co-ordination was shown to all by the way he timed the ball to perfection and guided it to the boundary. All kinds of people, those who were and even those who weren’t interested in cricket, gathered in flocks to see this man tear the opposition apart. It was even made to believe that it was virtually impossible to get this batsman out. Hence, whenever the two words “He’s Out !” were blazoned across the London evening newspaper placards, it could have meant only one thing; somewhere, someone had managed to get rid of Don Bradman and had claimed fame that would last for quite some time.

But Bradman always thought otherwise, he believed that there were many other batsmen, contemporaries of his, who had the talent to be just as prolific as he was but lacked the concentration. Questions then started coming up, “How did anyone ever get him out?” And soon enough, answers started coming up. It seemed that he too had an Achilles’ heel; his shatter point proved to be wrist spin. The masters of wrist spin at that time were Clarrie Grimmet and Bill O’Reilly of England and the two used to trouble him immensely when it came to playing those googlies. Bradman called them the finest and therefore, presumably, the most testing bowlers he played against in his lifetime.

Throughout the 1930s and ’40s Bradman was the world’s master cricketer, so far ahead of everyone else that comparisons became pointless. In 1930, he scored 974 runs in the series, 309 of them in one amazing day at Headingley, and in seven Test series against England he remained a figure of utter dominance; Australia lost the Ashes only once, in 1932-33, when England were so spooked by Bradman that they devised a system of bowling, Bodyline, that history has damned as brutal and unfair, simply to thwart him. He still averaged 56 in the series. In all, he went to the crease 80 times in Tests, and scored 29 centuries and an infamous triple century. His sheer class had given him an average of around 99 and looked in prime shape to make it into a 100. A feat that no batsman has ever managed to achieve till date.

The year was 1948,the Oval cricket was packed choc-a-bloc. Don Bradman was to play his last innings in cricket and the bigger news was that he needed only 4 more runs to ensure an average of 100. As The Don walked down to the field to play his last innings, he faced the spinner Eric Hollies. As if lady luck had just left his side when he needed her the most, he was clean bowled for a duck and the record was left begging and still is till date.

But Bradman was still a hero and still the best in the game. He had made all those runs at high speed in a manner that bewildered opponents and entranced spectators. Though his batting was not classically beautiful, it was always awesome. As Neville Cardus put it, he was a devastating rarity: “A genius with an eye for business.”

Is that a plane, is that a bird? No, its not even Superman, its none other than the fastest bowler in the world, he who has clocked a flicker above or below 100 mph and has blown the opposition’s top, middle and bottom order with his sheer pace. This Ferrari of cricket is none other than Brett Lee.

A native of Wollogong, Brett Lee has had quick success in absolutely no time in his international career. He has been able to scalp around a total of 500 wickets till date at the international level. Introduced to test cricket in 1999 under Steve Waugh’s captaincy when he was a young lad of 23, he played his first match against India at Melbourne and in a period of 7 test matches that he played, he took 42 wickets. He practically had the opposition running for cover whenever facing the ball from his end as he released his arsenal of fiery bouncers and yorkers. Brett Lee’s introduction to International cricket couldn’t have been more dramatic. He had to undergo an elbow operation after that brief spell of havoc that he created and was out of action for some time.

When he returned, things were different now, Ricky Ponting was captain and he gave Lee a blueprint for lasting success that didn’t solely rely on bouncers or yorkers. This strategy helped Lee refine his game and improve his technique. Lee was a much consistent bowler than what he was before but he was still not in his prime form. The long woes of injuries kept on and his absence in the team meant bad news. Adding to injuries, he even faced accusations of throwing, bean balls and stress fractures. He played his first Ashes in 2001 but was hardly able to make his mark even though Australia had won the series. Lee needed a good series to get back to shape and needed it fast. His prayers were answered finally as he played his first ever World Cup in 2003. At the World Cup, during which he took a ferocious hat-trick against Kenya and blasted the opposition away in every match, Lee was a polished star. He was back in the game and he was dangerous.

His counterpart, the infamous ‘Rawalpindi Express’, Shoaib Akhtar has always proven to be a great competitor and a novelty act but while Lee’s pace was blinding, Shoaib’s was hamstrung. Along with the pace, Lee had now got some tricks up his sleeve. To name a few, there was a devastating yorker, a devilish slower ball or a wayward outswinger. By now, Lee had honed his batting skills as well and was now looking forward to demolish the opposition with his bat too. His ability to slog the ball outside the ground and steal the quick singles could easily make any bowler lose his temper.

Lee was awarded the Bradman Young Cricketer of the year in 2000 and Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2006. Known as ‘Bing’, Lee performed in the 2005 Ashes with lots of fervour and earned plaudits for brave performances with both bat and ball. He nearly pulled off a win for Australia with a battling 43 at Edgbaston, but his partner-in-crime Michael Kasprowicz fell at the contentious final hurdle. Andrew Flintoff’s consoling of Lee seconds after the catch was 2005′s defining image.

Brett Lee could be defined as a man with a fruity vocabulary, a trademark jump for joy, a stylish bat, a streak of sadism when bowling at tailenders and a never-say-die attitude. In other words, the pin-up boy of the 21st century.

Flowing locks, loud grunts and loads of gusto, this is Andrew Symonds to you. Born in the streets of, Birmingham, England, who could have ever imagined that he would one day be seen making lives miserable of individuals from his birth place. Well known for his ability to hit huge sixes way over the bowler’s head and then to throw down off-breaks as well as mediums at the other end, Symonds has been one of Australia’s greatest finds and by far the best all-rounder this country has produced. He could have easily played for England if he wanted but his eyes were always set on the baggy green cap. He started off playing for county teams and was included in Gloucestershire when he was about 20. It took no time for him to make his presence known in English cricket after he had bashed 16 sixes against Glomorgan in Abergavenny and created a new world record. But for Symonds, he couldn’t care less for it, he was just out there to play his game and make sure that his team won and that’s just what he had done and that too with a sense of panache.

But international cricket was still far away for him, he still had miles to go before he could flash the willow or hold the cherry. In the words of his old coach, Bryan Toot, Symonds “wasn’t in control of his shot-selection … he’d get 24 off an over and then get out on the last ball of that over.” But it wasn’t too long before the Australian side heard of this person who has been demolishing attacks all over the ground and obliterating the opposition. And so Symonds made his One Day International debut on November 10th against Pakistan at Lahore. But things didn’t get any better there onwards. For 5 whole years he went through this rollercoaster of going in and out of the One Day side as he frittered away golden opportunities that came along his way. All he needed was one good innings to get things back in shape and he finally got that on the best day possible. It was Pakistan versus Australia in the first round of the 2003 World Cup, the opposition had ripped through the top order and the Ozzies were looking down the barrel. That’s when walked in Andrew Symonds. This was his time to shine and he did so with elegance. He sculpted a masterly 143 not out of 125 balls and led his side to an emphatic victory. From that day onwards, there was no looking back, since then, he had made 762 runs only at the age of 23 and has averaged around 45 till date.

It was a matter of time before he finally got what he had been yearning for throughout his life, his very own, baggy green cap. On March 8th 2004, he made his international test debut against Sri Lanka at Galle. He wasn’t able to make his mark during the series in Sri Lanka and was dropped from the side as well. But as the Ashes approached, Symonds was given another much needed golden opportunity and was included back into the side. This time he made sure he left no stone unturned and went on to make a career high 156 at the 2nd game in the MCG with his partner and fishing mate, Matthew Hayden. He added another feather to his cap when he was awarded the One Day International Player of the Year in 2005

Nicknamed ‘Roy’, Symonds has created a huge fan following with his huge sixes, flowing dreadlocks and amiable character. A quintessential part of the Australian side, this Queensland larrikin will have his eyes set on the upcoming World Cup 2007 and is bound to do everything in his power to make sure they win it.