THE GOOGLY: Implacable Waugh's arrival on Australia coaching staff should strike fear into England

HUW TURBERVILL: No one kept the uncompromising intensity up like Waugh for such a long period of time. His expression never changed, like a Surrey housewife who receives extra Botox vouchers for Christmas

If the tectonic players were not already shifting slightly in Australia’s favour ahead of this summer’s Ashes…up steps Stephen Waugh.

News that he will mentor Tim Paine’s tourists during the series could be significant. If there is one living Australian cricketer who strikes fear in the hearts of English players and fans, it is him.

Shane Warne would be a rival of course, but that 2005 Ashes defeat is fresher in the memory, and he has let his guard down subsequently. Waugh’s aura is intact.

It is Warne of course, who became a keen poker player, but it is difficult to see how he would defeat Waugh, if the New South Welshmen ever took an interest in it. Of all Australia’s cricketing colossuses who pounded England into submission from 1989–2005, the word implacable suits Waugh the best.

Yes Allan Border was unyielding in 1989, but he had been chummy with England in the series before. No one kept the uncompromising intensity up like Waugh for such a long period of time.

His expression never changed, like a Surrey housewife who receives extra Botox vouchers for Christmas: whether he had just square-driven an England bowler for four, or leapt to glove down a nasty bouncer from Curtly Ambrose (they used to think he was vulnerable to the short stuff but it rarely got him out).

He was also the master of slipping a few cunning words in – ‘mental disintegration’ – just loud enough for batsman to hear, like a cricket-playing Iago. “I was never a big believer in making outrageous statements – just little subtle hints here and there,” he said.

^{Steve Waugh, pictured in conversation with David Warner, is joining Australia as a mentor}

“Direct abuse to me is sledging and should never be allowed, while putting doubts in batsmen’s minds by encouraging each other and indulging in banter is all part of the game.” Hmmm.

After he departed international cricket he suggested it had all been an act: “I’m a pretty emotional person. I’m basically the opposite of what I’m perceived as on the cricket field. When you drop a player as captain, you become emotional. You don’t cry, but you feel like crying.”

The only consolation for England this summer is that the 54-year-old cannot actually be out there in the middle, but he can certainly generate the ideas back in the pavilion.

Maybe he will pass an England player in the corridor, and mutter something barely audible under his breath. “Good luck,” to Rory Burns or Joe Denly, for instance. “Shame if this is your last Test.” He said something similar to Rahul Dravid during the Kolkata Test in 2001: “Rahul No.6 in this innings, what is it in the next? No.12?” It backfired. The Wall made 112 in that famous victory.

Waugh did not make a dramatic impact in his first Ashes series, in 1986/87, when Mike Gatting’s men had such a superb winter. He played the first four Tests of the series, and a couple of 70s at Perth and Adelaide – and handy wickets – hinted at his potential, but he was omitted from the side that won a consolation victory at the SCG. After that however, his hold over the English was complete.

It was not until the 1989 Ashes that he truly emerged however. The Headingley Test of 30 summers ago was his 27th, and in his 42nd innings he made his maiden Test century that left England demoralised.

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David Gower had given Australia first use on what turned out to be a belter, and England’s attack of four right-arm seamers – with John Emburey left out – floundered. Waugh came in at 273 for 4. He cracked 24 fours in a superb innings of 177 not out, and Australia declared on 601. Batting in a cap some of the time, pictures of him cracking the ball off the back foot through point live long in the memory.

He added 152 not out and 21 not out in his next Test, at Lord’s, and when England finally found a way to part him from the crease for the first time in the series at Edgbaston for 43, he had scored 393 runs, and he extended that to 506 by the end of the rubber.

He actually lost his place to brother Mark in the next Ashes, 1990/91, but it was only temporary solace for England. In 1993 he scored 416 at 83.20 with another unbeaten century – 157 not out – at Leeds.

He had to settle for two unbeaten 90s, at the MCG and the WACA in 1994/95; but then there were back-to-back hundreds at Old Trafford four years later. That was the summer when England gave him the silent treatment, so he sledged himself: “Oh, I get it. Nobody’s talking to Steve. OK! I’ll talk to my f***ing self then.”

His 112 at the Gabba set the tone for yet another emphatic series defeat in 1998/99, but even greater heroics were to come once he became captain.

^{Waugh was among England's greatest adversaries as a player}

In 2001 he simply refused to be overcome by a calf injury, and – practically on one leg – scored as brave a century as any seen at The Oval. That was the last series Australia won here.

Then, under intense pressure over his place, he made his final Test century against England, in 2002/03, at the SCG, cutting the final ball of the day from Richard Dawson to the boundary amid incredible tension and drama. He was the one captaincy counterpart Nasser Hussain could not overcome.

Another legacy of his was the scoring rates in modern Test cricket. During those last two Ashes series he demanded Australia score at nearly four an over (3.77 in 2001 and 3.99 in 2002/03). Now there was simply no way England could escape with draws – they had too long to bat. “The minute you hesitate you are in trouble,” he always said. Michael Vaughan realised that for England to finally win, they needed to adopt those tactics, and they did, in 2005.

“Waugh’s Australians live in a cocoon of positivism,” wrote Lynn McDonnell of ESPNcricinfo. “They have a team to play for. If they do their job well the collective benefits are shared by all. That will be the greatest lesson of the Waugh years.”

As a youngster I dreamed he would one day coach England. I have no idea if he would ever defect like that. And in the meantime we have another English summer of watching him size us up… his eyes narrowing (under his tatty old Baggy Green?), his great cricket brain working overtime. Australia’s confident showing in this World Cup – their big batting beasts looking confident, their speedsters on form – are already making many suspect they could achieve only the second Ashes away success in 16 years. If they do,  we should not underestimate Waugh’s influence.