Mark Edward Waugh AM (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former cricketer who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002 and made his One Day International debut in 1988.

Waugh is often referred to as Junior because he is a few minutes younger than his twin brother Steve. Dean Waugh, another of Mark's brothers, is also a cricketer, having played both first class and List A cricket in Australia for New South Wales. His nephew and Steve's son Austin was selected to the Australia U19 team. He was previously a National Selector, a position he held until August 2018. On May 15, 2018, he announced his intention to trade National Selector duties for a role as a TV commentator at Fox Sports.

Key Achievements

Primarily a right-handed hitter, batting 4th in Test games, Waugh was also a handy, medium-pace bowler who switched to an off-spin bowler after back injuries limited him. He is considered one of the best slip fielders to ever play cricket and held the world record for most test catches by a non-wicketkeeper until Rahul Dravid broke it in 2009.

He started out as an all-rounder on Australia's ODI team but later focused on batting and progressed to opening batting where he excelled and became Australia's leading one-day runscorer. His three centuries at the 1996 Cricket World Cup made him the first batsman to achieve the feat. The record Sourav Ganguly later equaled at the 2003 Cricket World Cup and a fourth century at the 1999 tournament made him the only Australian to score more than 1000 runs in World Cup competition and to score four centuries. During the 1999 tournament he became Australia's leading run scorer and century maker in ODIs.

Waugh is considered one of the most elegant and gifted hitters to ever play the game, and his stylish hitting game has been compared to that of Stan McCabe, Alan Kippax, Victor Trumper, Charlie Macartney and Greg Chappell.
After his first Test century, Australian coach Bob Simpson compared Waugh's elegance to Archie Jackson's. Mark Taylor called Waugh the "best looking leg side player I've ever seen...Anything that drifts into his pads hits beautifully."

His easy grace also led to accusations that he was a "lazy" hitter prone to soft layoffs.
Waugh is the younger fraternal twin brother of Steve Waugh, with whom he played for most of his career and also under his captaincy. They hold the record for most Test and ODI matches in which siblings appear together.

Early Life and Career 

Born on June 2, 1965 at Canterbury Hospital in Campsie, New South Wales, Waugh was the second of twins born to Rodger and Beverley Waugh. He arrived four minutes after Steve. His father was a bank clerk and his mother a teacher at the New South Wales Department of Education. The family settled in the western Sydney suburb of Panania. The twins were later joined by two other brothers, Dean and Danny. Parents introduced their children to sports early on. By the age of six, the twins were playing organized football, tennis and cricket. In their first cricket match, the brothers were both dismissed for ducks.

The twins came from a sporting family. Her paternal grandfather Edward was a greyhound trainer. Raised in the northern coastal town of Bangalow, Edward earned a selection for the New South Wales country team in rugby league. He was about to move to Eastern Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League, but had to give up his career for family reasons.

Rodger was Edward's only son and a promising tennis player, finishing eighth in Australia in his junior years and being a national under-14 champion. On her mother's side, Bev was a tennis player who won the under-14 singles at the South Australian Championships. Her eldest brother Dion Bourne was an opening batsman who played at Sydney Grade cricket for Bankstown and remains the leading runs scorer in the club's history.

When Mark was 16, he grew about a foot in a year. It was a relief because he was diagnosed with Repetitive Stress Injury Osgood-Schlatter disease at age 15 and told he would not grow past his then 5'1" height. The couple changed football teams to play in the state league in the reserve league for Sydney Croatia and the couple received small amounts in the professional league. They left quickly, however, as their cricket careers increasingly required more time.

The brothers were promoted to Bankstown's Second XI before being selected to the First XI in the 1982–83 season aged 17. Both made their debuts against Western Suburbs, with Mark hitting 97 on the debut and finishing the season on 427 runs at 30:50. That placed him second on his team's aggregates and he contributed 14 wickets at 10.71. By this point, his coaches had already identified the qualities that would mark Mark's international career, those of seeming laziness and reliable catching.

Domestic Career

Waugh and Mark Taylor opened the debut against Tasmania at Hobart's TCA ground. New South Wales was sent into the bat and Waugh was sacked for 13 and New South Wales fell to 3/60 in the first innings. He scored 28 in the second innings, but the tie was more notable for an incident on the third morning when the new opening pair overslept on Taylor's 21st birthday. They were punished with field practice by trainer Bob Simpson, forcing the pair to make hundreds of catches.

He made his first catch, Roger Woolley's on the debut. Waugh fell on hard times, dismissed for a duck and four by Test bowler Merv Hughes in the next match against Victoria and then 17 and a run for another duck against the touring New Zealand. With a first-class 10.33 average, Waugh was dropped for the next five games. However, for the final four games of the season, Waugh was recalled to the team as a frontline fast bowler and mid-order hitter. He took 4/130 in the first innings against Queensland in his first match in the role.

In mid-1988, Waugh was signed to replace Australian captain Allan Border after just one full season at Sheffield Shield for a six-week stint as an overseas professional at Essex County Cricket Club in England. Border had to leave before the end of the season due to the Australian tour of Pakistan and had recommended Waugh who arrived with high expectations.

Essex were one of the strongest teams in England and Border had scored six centuries that season. Waugh's debut came in August in a limited overs game against Nottinghamshire at Colchester. After struggling early in his innings, Waugh found his rhythm, hitting 103 balls from just 94 balls, amassing his second 50 in just 28 balls. He finished with 15 fours and a six, then took 2/16 with the ball. Waugh played in three first-class matches and counted 178 carries at 44.50. His performances were enough to prompt Essex officials to invite him to return for the 1989 season. Waugh accepted provided he was not selected for the 1989 Ashes tour of England with the national team.

In 1990, Waugh and his brother combined in an unbeaten partnership of 464 in 407 minutes for New South Wales against Western Australia on the WACA floor, setting a first-class world record for the fifth wicket. Both teams were at full strength and Western Australia's attack included Test bowlers Terry Alderman, Bruce Reid and Chris Matthews. The Twins finished undefeated with 216 and 229 respectively.

On the 1993 Tour of England, Waugh scored 174 against Surrey and recaptured his Test position from Damien Martyn. He achieved an ODI and a Test century in games at Edgbaston.

International Career

Waugh tried to force his way into the Australian team early in the 1988/89 season. He started badly, with a duck and 18 against Queensland, and didn't take a wicket. He ducked in the next match and seemed in control in the second innings when he went out for 46. He then faced the touring West Indies, Waugh was sacked for nine in the first innings. In the second innings, Waugh bounced back to score an unbeaten 103 from 163 balls against the undisputed world champions, earning praise from their captain Viv Richards.

In the following game against Tasmania, Waugh was immediately headed for a duck attempting a slash shot but didn't make 100 in the second innings. He then scored 69 and 39 against Western Australia. Waugh was overlooked for the Test selection, but was selected in the ODI squad for the start of the triangular tournament against the West Indies and Pakistan. It was the first time twins played international cricket for Australia.

Waugh made his ODI debut against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in December but failed to bat as Australia clinched a nine-wicket win. Two days later against the West Indies in Sydney, Waugh made his first ODI catch when he caught Peter Taylor's Gordon Greenidge. He first batted as his brother's partner in a chase, scoring 18 of 19 balls. Steve had gone out, something that was to happen several times while they were banging together. Australia lost by one run.

Waugh made 32 in the next match against the West Indies and again Steve was run out while they batted together. Waugh was left out for the next three ODIs but returned to make 12 against Pakistan before scoring 42 from 53 in the final round robin game against the West Indies. Waugh was left out for the first final, which Australia won by two runs before replacing Simon O'Donnell in the second game. He made two catches in game two, scoring 22 and five as Australia lost both to concede the series. Waugh finished his first international streak with 131 runs in 21.83.

Waugh was eventually chosen for his Test debut in the 1990–91 Ashes series. In the fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval against England he scored his first century with a square drive late on day one.

Bad Form

During the Australian summer of 1991/92, Waugh encountered poor form. He was dropped from the ODI team early in the season and then left the Test team in favor of Tom Moody for the fifth Test against India in Perth. After his recall to the ODI team in place of the injured Bruce Reid, Waugh only hit 20 runs at 6.67.

He was part of the team that did not reach the semi-finals of the 1992 World Cup but did not play the entire tournament due to his poor form. After scoring twice in the opening game against New Zealand at Eden Park, he was dropped for three games and then featured in the last four games. His best performance was an unbeaten 66 from 39 against Zimbabwe at the Bellerive Oval. On the ensuing tour of Sri Lanka, Waugh returned to the Test team, scoring five and 56 points in the first Test but trailing him with four consecutive ducks.

World Cup 1996

Waugh was one of the leading players at the 1996 Cricket World Cup in the Indian subcontinent. He opened batting and scored 130 off 130 in Australia's opening match against Kenya at Visakhapatnam. He followed that up with 126 from 135 balls against India in Bombay, often hitting through cover and midwicket. The innings made him the first player to score consecutive centuries in World Cup competition.

Waugh then sacked Sachin Tendulkar for 90 when he was likely to win the game for India. Tendulkar charged down the pitch to Waugh's off-spin, who responded with a wide bowling, causing the Indian to trip. Waugh was named Man of the Match on both occasions. He went 76 unbeaten against Zimbabwe in a nine-wicket win at Nagpur. He scored just 30 balls from 6 but took 3/38 in the final group game against the West Indies in Jaipur, which Australia lost.

Australia reached the quarterfinals where they met New Zealand in Madras. He scored his third century (110) to lead a successful Australian chase and again won man of the match. The innings took Waugh's tournament tally to 472 runs, Australia's record in a single tournament. Despite only managing 0's and 12's in the semifinals and finals, Waugh finished the tournament with 484 runs at an 80.66 average and an 85.36 batting average, only second to Tendulkar. He contributed five wickets with the ball.

Waugh went to England for his second Ashes tour in 1997 and attracted attention upon arrival for questioning the hunger and toughness of the home side. He scored 131 runs at 43.66 as Australia lost all three ODIs with a top score of 95 in the final at The Oval.

In the first Test at Edgbaston, Waugh made 5 and 1 as Australia suffered a nine-wicket loss. The English media and public reminded Waugh of his pre-series comments about the England cricket team. To make matters worse, he was hospitalized for two days mid-game with suspected appendicitis. The condition was eventually diagnosed as a severe viral infection. Waugh made just 209 runs at 20.90 for the series, with only half a century. He scored two centuries in the Tour matches, including one against Middlesex at Lord's. In the sixth Test, he was sacked in both innings by his old sparring partner Tufnell, whom he had criticized as "a pretty weak type of player" early in the series.

Waugh's performances in England had stirred questions about his position in the team. Review mounted after Waugh failed 20 in the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane, dropping a catch. Waugh made a U-turn in the second Test in Perth by capturing Chris Cairns full force from the air. He scored 86 points, including a lofted drive by Daniel Vettori to the roof of the Lillee Marsh stand. The ball traveled approximately 130 m, one of the longest sixes in history. Australia won the match and Waugh hit 81 in the third Test and finished the 196-run streak at 39.20, enough to salvage his position on the team.

World Cup 1999

Taylor retired after the Australian summer and Waugh's brother became the Test captain and the first task was a tour of the Caribbean. Waugh had a modest Test series, finishing with 202 runs at 25.25 as Australia retained the Frank Worrell Trophy 2-2. His best score was 67 in the first innings of the second Test, which ended when he was bowled over by a ball that was driving along the ground. Speculations about his future began to boil again. He then completed 217 31.00 runs at the ODIs, Australia's second-highest runs scorer, before the team headed to England for the 1999 World Cup.

In the final against Pakistan at Lord's, he set the tone of the game when he knocked out Wajahatullah Wasti with a side-diving catch. Pakistan was ejected for 132. Waugh wasn't out at 37 when Darren Lehmann hit the winning runs. He finished the tournament with 375 runs at 41.67, making him Australia's second-highest runs scorer for the tournament.

Retirement

Waugh retired in late 2002 as Australia's highest run-scorer and century-maker in ODI cricket.

Club Career

Mark opened against Tasmania on his debut at Hobart's TCA ground. Mark made his first catch that day with Roger Woolley's.

He was named Sheffield Shield Player of the Year for both the 1987–88 and 1989–90 seasons.
Waugh briefly replaced Australian captain Allan Border at Essex County Cricket Club in England in 1988 after just one full season at Sheffield Shield.

Waugh's debut was in August in a limited overs match against Nottinghamshire in Colchester.

He started slowly in Essex with a 77 against Derbyshire, which was his only 50-over score in his first six innings.
Waugh then got his first top-flight County Century against Hampshire, scoring 109 points at Ilford in late June. He again scored 112* against Glamorgan in a one-dayer.

In the first Sheffield Shield match of the season, Waugh hit 172 of the 301 balls delivered, his highest first-class result to date.

He then got 42 runs and took three wickets against Sri Lanka. He posted an unbeaten 100 against Victoria, hitting 46 and 18 while beating Queensland 1/31 and 2/34.

After cricket

In 2002 he was briefly Nine Network's cricket commentator during the 3-match ODI series Australia-Pakistan.
Waugh was previously a Network Ten commentator for the Big Bash as well as a national selector. In 2018, Ten lost the rights to Big Bash.

He was named as the opening batsman on Australia's "greatest ODI team of all time". He was also inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2014.

In 2018–19, Waugh will join Adam Gilchrist as a cricket commentator for Fox Sports.

After splitting from Sue Porter - his partner of 17 years in 2004 - on 9 April 2005 he married thoroughbred trainer Kim Waugh (née Moore), winner of the Sydney Cup.