OTD| Australian twin pair of Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh were born in 1965

On 2 June 1965, Australian cricket got two precious gifts from Rodger and Beverley Waugh. Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh, cricket’s most celebrated twins, turned 56 today. Though both were born on the same day, Steve is four minutes older than Mark. Just as Steve has an edge in terms of age, he also has a slight edge in achievements over his younger brother. Nonetheless, both were boons for the Australian team and true legends of the game.

A right-handed batter and medium-pace bowler, Steve is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in history. The elder brother made his international Test debut in 1985 and went on to play a total of 168 matches. On the other hand, Mark, a right-handed batter who is also effective with off-spin, made his international debut first in the ODI format in 1988 and donned the white jersey in 1991.

Steve was part of the Australian team that won their first world title in the 1987 Cricket World Cup. He captained Australia from 1997 to 2004 and led the side to 15 of their record 16 consecutive Test wins. Notably, he became the second Australian captain to win the World Cup in 1999 when the Kangaroos defeated Pakistan at Lord’s in the final.

Under his leadership, Australia made winning a habit and brought an aggressive approach in their play. His most successful format as captain was the Test format, in which he had 41 wins and a win ratio of 72%. Steve was named Australian of the Year in 2004 for his philanthropic work and was inducted into the Cricket Governing Body’s Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2010.

Mark is one of the most elegant batters in the history of the game. He was primarily a middle-order batter and played as an all-rounder, thanks to his off-spin prowess. He then turned his attention to batting and progressed as an innings opener, which helped him become Australia’s highest ODI run scorer. One of the greatest slip fielders of all time, he held the world record for most Test catches by a non-wicketkeeper for several years.

He played a crucial role in Australia reaching the final of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Mark hit three centuries at the mega event in India, becoming the first batter to achieve the feat. He was part of the 1999 World Cup-winning team. Steve has accumulated 18496 international runs and taken 287 wickets while Mark has scored 16529 runs and picked up 144 wickets.