Visro
10 Jan 2002, 09:32
Just read this article this morning:
Waugh's cap bagged
By JON RALPH
10jan02
IT is tattered, battered, beer-soaked and 17 years-old. But Steve Waugh's baggy green cap is one of the symbols of Australian sport.
Waugh insists he will not replace the worn and fraying cap, which is valued at more than $100,000.
Many cricket fans disagree, flooding talkback radio and letters pages with pleas for him to don a new one.
Test great Neil Harvey yesterday weighed into the debate, saying it was Waugh's duty as captain to look impeccable in the field.
"It looks bloody terrible, it really does. He needs to get another one," Harvey said.
"He is on camera all the time and it doesn't look the best."
Waugh has said he will not replace the cap unless told by Australian officials.
"I just like it the way it is," he said during last year's Ashes series in England.
"It carries the memories of all those years and I really like the character of it. A bit ragged."
The cap, given to Waugh on his Test debut in late 1985, is kept in the bottom of his cricket kit between games.
Under his leadership, the mystique of the baggy green has grown, with the players making a pact to wear them in the first session of each Test.
Waugh even wore his cap to last year's Wimbledon final to support Pat Rafter.
Team manager Steve Bernard yesterday said Waugh's cap was acceptable, but only just.
"It is struggling, isn't it? It has had better days," Bernard said.
"I think the guys should be able to wear their original caps until they get to the stage where they are falling apart.
"Steve's is just holding in."
Former Test cricketer Sam Loxton agreed the cap looked shabby, but supported Waugh's desire to stick with it.
"It doesn't look all that good. I don't know how much more life is left in Steve Waugh, and I don't know if his cap will last him," Loxton, who played for the so-called Invincibles in the late '40s, said.
He sold one of his baggy green caps for $32,500 last year.
But Waugh's cap - worn proudly during a world record 16 straight Test victories - would fetch far more.
ABC cricket commentator Tim Lane said there was something very traditional about the cap.
"If it starting to fall apart, maybe the time has come," Lane said.
Team-mate Damien Fleming said he would be disappointed if the decision to retire the cap was taken away from Waugh.
"(It) has had so many famous victories and celebrations. It must be hard to let go of," Fleming said. "I don't know if it will last his career out."
Melbourne fashion designer Jenny Hoo said Waugh's cap had "the op-shop look".
"It is like it's his security cap, a child blanket," Hoo said.
"I don't even think the moths would like it. It doesn't rate in the fashion stakes."
Waugh's cap bagged
By JON RALPH
10jan02
IT is tattered, battered, beer-soaked and 17 years-old. But Steve Waugh's baggy green cap is one of the symbols of Australian sport.
Waugh insists he will not replace the worn and fraying cap, which is valued at more than $100,000.
Many cricket fans disagree, flooding talkback radio and letters pages with pleas for him to don a new one.
Test great Neil Harvey yesterday weighed into the debate, saying it was Waugh's duty as captain to look impeccable in the field.
"It looks bloody terrible, it really does. He needs to get another one," Harvey said.
"He is on camera all the time and it doesn't look the best."
Waugh has said he will not replace the cap unless told by Australian officials.
"I just like it the way it is," he said during last year's Ashes series in England.
"It carries the memories of all those years and I really like the character of it. A bit ragged."
The cap, given to Waugh on his Test debut in late 1985, is kept in the bottom of his cricket kit between games.
Under his leadership, the mystique of the baggy green has grown, with the players making a pact to wear them in the first session of each Test.
Waugh even wore his cap to last year's Wimbledon final to support Pat Rafter.
Team manager Steve Bernard yesterday said Waugh's cap was acceptable, but only just.
"It is struggling, isn't it? It has had better days," Bernard said.
"I think the guys should be able to wear their original caps until they get to the stage where they are falling apart.
"Steve's is just holding in."
Former Test cricketer Sam Loxton agreed the cap looked shabby, but supported Waugh's desire to stick with it.
"It doesn't look all that good. I don't know how much more life is left in Steve Waugh, and I don't know if his cap will last him," Loxton, who played for the so-called Invincibles in the late '40s, said.
He sold one of his baggy green caps for $32,500 last year.
But Waugh's cap - worn proudly during a world record 16 straight Test victories - would fetch far more.
ABC cricket commentator Tim Lane said there was something very traditional about the cap.
"If it starting to fall apart, maybe the time has come," Lane said.
Team-mate Damien Fleming said he would be disappointed if the decision to retire the cap was taken away from Waugh.
"(It) has had so many famous victories and celebrations. It must be hard to let go of," Fleming said. "I don't know if it will last his career out."
Melbourne fashion designer Jenny Hoo said Waugh's cap had "the op-shop look".
"It is like it's his security cap, a child blanket," Hoo said.
"I don't even think the moths would like it. It doesn't rate in the fashion stakes."