Austin Waugh, the son of Aussie legend Steve, is performing promisingly for Australia in the under-19s ODI series against Sri Lanka in Hobart, scoring 40 not out and 60 in the last two matches.
It made me nostalgic, taking me back almost 33 years. On 19 November 1984 a function was held by Cricketers Club of NSW in Sydney to name the Richie Benaud Award winner for the Best Poidevin-Gray Shield under-21s player of 1983-84.
The winner was 18-year-old Mark Waugh, Austin’s uncle – but he could not attend the function as he and his twin brother Steve were then playing youth Test matches for Australia against Sri Lanka in Melbourne.
Both were stars of the series. In the Adelaide Test Mark hit a century and Steve 55. In the next match in Melbourne Steve smashed a spectacular 187 off 216 deliveries.
Back to the present, and last year Austin Waugh top-scored for Metro NSW by slamming an unbeaten century in the final of the national under-17s cricket championships. He belted 122 from 136 balls, hitting four fours and four sixes in the one-day final against Queensland juniors.
Austin scintillated in this championship and was the leading run scorer for NSW Metro at the championships, scoring 372 runs at an average of 74.40. Only Queensland’s Angus Lovell, who hit two centuries and three fifties at 80.17, outscored him.
Cricket Australia’s pathways manager Graham Manou was astonished the first time he saw Austin bat because the similarities with his famous father were striking.
“It was very scary, the first time I saw him, his mannerisms,” Manou said. “Genetically, I suppose you’d expect [it], but it’s like he’s watched a tape of his old man for years. They’re very, very similar.”
Will Austin Waugh follow dad Steve to international fame? If he does, it will be only the third such instance for Australia.
The first such instance was Edward ‘Ned’ Gregory, who played one Test in 1877, and his and son Syd Gregory, who played in 58 Tests between 1890 and 1912.
The second father-son occurrence was for father Geoff Marsh, who played 50 Tests in the summers of 1985-86 and 1991-92, and his sons Shaun, who has played 23 Tests since 2011-12, and Mitchell, who has 21 Tests to his name since 2014.
Inaugurated 140 years ago, Test cricket is in its fifth generation. Amazingly, the first 100 years were covered by a single family.
William Cooper played his first Test for Australia in December 1881 and his great-grandson Paul Sheahan, the elegant batsman and superb fielder, played the last of his 31 Tests for Australia in January 1974.
Dean Headley created history when he made his Test debut for England against Australia at Manchester in 1997. It was the first instance of three direct generations of Test cricketers.
Dean’s father, Ron, had represented the West Indies in 1973 and his grandfather, the legendary George, had played for the West Indies from 1929 to 1953 with distinction.
There is only one subsequent instance of three direct generations in Test history.
Pakistan’s Bazid Khan is the son of Majid Khan, the nephew of Imran Khan and the grandson of Jahangir Khan. Bazid and Majid represented Pakistan and grandfather Jahangir India.
The Mohammads have produced four brothers – Wazir, Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq – who represented Pakistan. Hanif’s son Shoaib also played 45 Tests. Between them they made 218 Test appearances, which is a record Waugh twins Steve and Mark broke in the new millennium by playing a total of 296 Tests.
India’s Lala Amarnath, New Zealand’s Walter Hadlee and Australia’s Geoff Marsh are the only Test cricketers to each sire two sons who went on to play Test matches.
After watching Austin Waugh bat last year, Peter FitzSimons wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald: “On his current trajectory, in about five years, Steve will be known as father of Austin Waugh.”
This is an overstatement, but let’s wait and watch.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Jameswm, hope your son succeeds too in whichever career he chooses.
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
When every one is talking about austin waugh....i have to say i was really impressed by australia's fast bowling display....though it's way to early to say,but i think australia has already starc,hazlewood,pattinson's replacement in making..
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Thank you all for your positive comments and interesting additions.
Targa
Guest
Only four years between the last test Lance Cairns played for NZ and the first that Chris played.
Targa
Guest
Nice article. As well as Sir Richard and Dayle a third brother (Barry) also played ODIs, but not tests, for NZ. Quite a few sons from the 1980s and 1990s are in or around the NZ team at the moment. Hamish Rutherford (son of Ken) and Doug Bracewell (son of Brendon, nephew of John) are out of the team now, but have played in recent years, while Scott Kugglelijn (son of Chris) will debut for an IPL-free NZ ODI team against Ireland which will be captained by Tom (son of Rod) Latham.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Well he certainly seems on track. Can't be easy being a son of a gun. One famous father/son combo were Fred and Maurice Tait. Poor Fred had a famous and unfortunate single test while Maurice had a brilliant career. Maybe Callum Ferguson will have a son or daughter to avenge the family name?
JGK
Roar Guru
Nice stuff as usual Kersi. It's probably worth mentioning the Laughlins - Trevor played a few tests and ODIs in the WSC era and he son Ben played ODIs and T20Is as well.
Ritesh Misra
Roar Guru
Excellent piece
jameswm
Roar Guru
Thanks Kersi. I've got a personal interest in how Austin goes, because my son is his age and friends with him. A lovely kid by all accounts, but I'd say a tough cricketer too (wonder where he gets that from?).
Amith
Guest
He could be a great, lets give him time and space to develop into one like his legendary father
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Thanks Paul for the scholarly interpretation of batsmanship.
Paul Potter
Roar Guru
“Get bat on ball.” Stephen Waugh’s voice carried clearly in the autumn air. His son, Austin, had just failed to scoop a ball over the keeper’s head in the last over of the innings, in a recent Under-19s match between Australia and Sri Lanka on April 19. Kersi, you have asked whether he will walk in his father’s footsteps. In terms of batting position, he did that day. Austin Waugh was batting at No. 5. But he had a different number on his back; No. 14. The Ponting number. Which is why I am more interested in the evolution of batsmanship than, as interesting as it undoubtedly is and I thank you for the information, the father-son and other family combinations. Ponting realised that batting was going further to shots he didn’t play, such as reverse sweeps. He said as much to Jarrod Kimber in 2015. Ramps are part of the new-age batting manual. To have maximum appeal as a middle-order batsman, which will often mean you are a late-overs batsman in T20 and even one-day cricket, you need to be able to play the ramp shot. Debasing the value of the yorker relies on that option, and the bowler knowing you have that option. Of course, lower than the highest levels of the game, ramps and reverse sweeps are not as necessary, and batsmen are less likely to execute them as well as necessary. Which is why prejudice still existing against those shots today, as dismissals attempting these shots can look truly awful. But as they become normalised, what will be next? By the time we know the answer to that, Austin Waugh could well be on the other side of the fence, calling for someone else to just get bat on ball. Yet to understand his batsmanship and batsmanship generally, for all the similarities there are with his father, the place of Ponting will be a vital intermediary when interpreting the careers of the two Waughs, and whether or not Austin Waugh does walk in the footsteps of his father.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Thanks Kersi! As usual, it's overwhelming how much of this you have stored in your brain! I shall go back and find that post from 2009. I am sure it will be truly fascinating!
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Thank you Jeff, thank you Anindya. Anindya, there are at least 42 instances of fathers and sons playing Test cricket. The full list appeared in my Roar post dated 26-12-2009. New names have to be added like Chris and Stuart Broad (Eng), Geoff, Shaun and Mitchell Marsh (Aus), among others. However, I should have mentioned Australia's Victor Richardson and grandsons Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell. Three of them (Victor, Ian and Greg) captained Australia. Ian and Greg Chappell were the first brothers to score a century each in the same Test and the only brothers to record centuries in both innings of a Test.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Nice one Kersi. Wishing austin the best. It would be fantastic to see another Steve Waugh emerge from that family! Just on the two generations of Cricketers, you have missed one set, which is India's Roger Binny (part of India's World Cup winning 1983 team) and Stuart Binny. Both were all rounders. Roger played 27 Tests with a batting average of 23 and a bowling average of 32. Stuart played 6 Tests with a batting average just above 21 and a horrible bowling average of 87. Stuart's Test selection and performance was so bad I actually included him in an article on the most undeserving Test Cricketers XI as my specialist all-rounder ? http://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/we-are-the-inglorious-most-undeserving-test-xi-of-all-time-582115
Jeff Dustby
Guest
Very informative