With 168 appearances at the highest level, Steve Waugh played more Tests than anyone else. His 41 wins are more than any other Test captain.
 Waugh now spends his time in business and charity work |
He played in nine Ashes series - two as skipper - losing just one and led Australia to a record 16 consecutive Test wins between 1999 and 2001. So it is fitting that his autobiography - called Out of My Comfort Zone - includes some similarly breath-taking numbers, like 900 pages and 230,000 words.
Waugh also thinned down a collection of 15,000 photographs, of which he estimates he took 3-4,000 - to get the final 200.
During his playing days he was continually finding new challenges to keep himself and his team motivated.
 |  The most memorable moments are when you come back against the odds and people don't expect you to win, like the World Cup in '99 |
Over the last 12 months the challenge has been documenting his career. On Tuesday, it involved negotiating a full morning of interviews around BBC Television Centre. But the 40-year-old tackled those with the same pragmatic, no nonsense approach that characterised his on-field exploits.
"I hand-wrote the book, which seemed like a good idea at the time," he told BBC Sport, with the marathon interview effort almost at an end.
"But nine months down the track, when I was getting RSI [repetitive strain injury] I thought I'd bitten off more than I could chew. "It's almost cleansing and therapeutic. It's all down and done and I'm off on my next career in business and charity."
Only the very best players - like Botham, Lillee, Warne and Tendulkar - become legends while still playing the game but Waugh is among them.
| STEVE WAUGH FACTFILE Stephen Rodger Waugh Born: 2 June 1965, Canterbury, New South Wales Major teams: Australia, Ireland, Kent, New South Wales, Somerset Right-hand bat; right-arm medium bowler Tests: 168
10,927 runs at 51.06, best 200, 32x100, 50x50
92 wkts at 37.44, best inns 5/28, best match 8/169
ODIs: 325
7,569 runs at 32.90, best 120no, 3x100, 45x50
195 wkts at 34.67, best inns 4/33
|
Arguably not as naturally talented as the others in that group, he was often successful through sheer force of will. His century at The Oval in 2001 was made despite the agony of a torn calf muscle and resulted in a dangerous deep vein thrombosis.
And there were fairytale moments like the century completed off the final ball on day two of his final Ashes Test, on home turf in Sydney, under intense pressure for his place.
But his career highlights are mainly team achievements, reflecting his career-long willingness to sacrifice his own success for team goals.
"The most memorable moments are when you come back against the odds and people don't expect you to win, like the World Cup in '99, the World Cup in '87," he says.
"In my first Ashes series in 1989, we came over as underdogs, were expected to lose 3-0 or 4-0 and won 4-0.
"They're the times you remember; individual moments not so much, but of course the 100 in Sydney and 200 in West Indies stand out for me."
| When people said I couldn't do it or that wasn't the way to do things I tried even harder to make sure I could do it |
The premise of his autobiography is that you cannot appreciate the highs without experiencing the lows. He dwells on the fact he went 12 Test matches from his debut in 1985 before tasting victory, 26 before scoring the first of 32 Test centuries.
"Over the years you document all the nice stuff and people know about that," he says. "But I wanted to get a bit more meat on what made me tick, what influenced me.
"For me it was about proving people wrong. When people said I couldn't do it or that wasn't the way to do things I tried even harder to make sure I could do it.
"I like the challenge. I like to do things my way. If I'm going to do something wrong I like to do it my way rather than because I'm following someone else."
 Waugh lists the 1999 World Cup as one of his best achievements |
His time now is spent with business interests in India and Australia and a regular column in Sydney's Daily Telegraph, also written long hand. But he is clearly most inspired by charity work, which began back in 1998 when he was asked to help the children of leprosy sufferers around Calcutta.
There is also the Steve Waugh Foundation Australia, which looks after children who have rare illnesses or afflictions that do not meet set criteria for other charities.
"We look after the kids that fall between the cracks, the kids that have nowhere to turn," he says.
"We found a great need in Australia that we didn't think was there but there are a lot of families and kids who are really struggling and can't get support from anywhere."
"I wake up and there are a lot of things in my day that are great challenges but the thing that gives me the most pleasure is being involved in the charity work."
The challenges remain, but Waugh long ago proved his capacity to meet them head-on.
MMIX
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