Steve makes Waugh on Boxing Day

Sunny skies for once, a crowd of 73,233, and a pacy pitch meant that the traditional Boxing Day Test at the MCG had everything going for it.

Steve Waugh loves when it is like that -- a big stage acting, as ever, as a spur for big deeds. The Aussie captain came in at a time when the Windies were dominant, and single-handedly wrested the initiative back in favour of his side.

The pitch was the most interesting aspect, with the MCG going in for one of those pre-fabricated affairs that are dropped in to the slot readied for it.

Jimmy Adams won the toss and decided to insert the opposition. Interestingly, given the character of the pitch, the Windies surprisingly decided to drop Marlon Black and induct Colin Stuart into the playing XI.

Australia, meanwhile, went the expected route, putting Stuart McGill on the bench and creating a bit of a record while doing so -- it is the first time in 24 Tests that the Aussies have gone in to a five day game without a leggie. With Brett Lee ruled out through injury, Andrew Bichel came in for McGill to bolster the pace and seam attack.

The first session of play belonged to the West Indies. The Aussie openers struggled on a pacy track, with Michael Slater very nearly dragging one back onto his stumps as early as the first over of the innings. Another slice of luck came his way when, with his personal score on 9, Slater edged a Merwyn Dillon delivery to second slip, where Sherwin Campbell made a bit of a meal of a chest-high take slightly to his left.

Mathew Hayden, too, was way below his best touch, struggling through the first hour before Courtney Walsh lifter took him out immediately after drinks. A hesitant forward push found the ball going to the keeper off the outer edge. Off the very next ball, Justin Langer was lucky to survive a concerted appeal for LBW.

Slater, looking uncomfortable throughout his tenure, was intent on hitting his way out of trouble. A casual pull aimed at a Nixon McLean delivery found the top edge to backward square, and Australia went in to lunch on 77/2.

Langer's scratchy tenure at the crease ended when he, like Slater, took the aggressive route out of trouble. A cross-batted heave at a Colin Stuart delivery found the ball staying low to take the bottom edge through to the keeper, giving Stuart his first Test wicket.

Mark Waugh looked the most comfortable of the Aussie batsmen, playing some flowing drives on the off. The Aussie number four was a tad lucky when, shortly before lunch, a Walsh delivery took him on the pads only for umpire Venkatraghavan to rule that it was probably missing leg.

After lunch, Waugh continued to look good to balls of good length, but was distinctly ill at ease to deliveries that kicked up at him. Merwyn Dillon took advantage, with one lifting off just back of a length on off, the resulting prod finding Mark Waugh's glove to give Adams an easy take at gully.

Ricky Ponting came out and blazed away right from the start, his pulling of the short ball being a noteable feature of the innings. However, one pull too many to a ball not short enough to justify the shot saw Wavell Hinds, at deep backward square, run in to take a superb diving catch.

Australia would have been in even more trouble had Marlon Samuels not wasted an opportunity to run out Steve Waugh. Samuels then floored a sharp caught and bowled off Adam Gilchrist, and the two batsmen then applied themselves to take Australia in to tea on 178/5.

The final session of play saw Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist come out in positive mood, in a bid to put runs on the board. As a strategy, it seemed the way to go -- the West Indies bowling was a mixture, through the day, of the very good and the very wayward. The good balls always threatened to get wickets, and thus the Aussie skipper and his deputy went in with the intention of maximising their toll of the bad balls.

Steve Waugh in particular was impressive. Grim determination to hang in there, and a willingness to climb into anything remotely off line and length, characterised an innings that propped up the Australian knock and fuelled a recovery of sorts.

Gilchrist took some time to settle in, then opened out to play some handsome shots, especially square of the wicket. The two added 61 for the sixth wicket, before a Stuart delivery short and wide of off saw Gilchrist launching into the cut, playing the ball just over his shoulder. This meant the ball didn't go to ground as early as the batsman would have liked, and Campbell at gully made up for his earlier lapse with a superb diving catch to take out the Aussie vice captain.

Andrew Bichel didn't last too long, Dillon landing one on length and around off to force the batsman into a tentative prod, bringing Ridley Jacobs back into action.

With the tail for company, Steve Waugh was in his elements, guiding Jason Gillespie through the 8th wicket partnership, keeping the tailend batsman focussed on just hanging in there while he himself went for the runs. His 43rd Test 50 (besides 22 hundreds) came up in the final session, with Waugh's cutting square of the wicket being the outstanding feature of his innings. As play wound down to a close, Waugh opened his shoulders against the spin of Marlon Samuels and, when the Windies skipper brought himself on, taking the long handle to Jimmy Adams.

That the Aussies put up a 50 run partnership for the 8th wicket was, from a Windies point of view, the worst possible news. The fact that 50 came off just 73 balls was a pointer to how completely the bowlers and fielders lost it, at a time when they needed to be at their sharpest.

The new ball, taken after 83 overs, checked the rate of run-accumulation somewhat. Both batsmen however negotiated the threat, Gillespie being particularly noteworthy for his composure against a stream of short-pitched stuff. The Aussie quick was very lucky to survive a caught behind in the penultimate over of the day when Walsh, after a stream of short-pitched stuff, put one on full length. Gillespie pushed at it, and got a huge nick, but umpire Simon Taufell apparently didn't hear the edge, or see the deflection.

The third session saw the Windies bowlers at their worst. Rather than keep to length and line and let the life in the track do their work, the Windies quicks sprayed the ball all over the place, in the process giving Steve Waugh, and even Jason Gillespie, too much of a safety margin. Walsh continued to set an example with his perfect line and length, but none of the other Windies quicks seemed to be watching, and learning, from the veteran. Dillon was the prime offender, bowling either short outside off or spraying to leg and proving expensive. Similarly, on a track affording some turn, Marlon Samuels pitched too short to be really effective, and allowed the batsmen too many free hits.

Australia went in on 295/7, having negated the good work by the Windies in the morning and post-lunch sessions and clambered back into the box seat. Steve Waugh remained unbeaten on 98, while Jason Gillespie chipped in with 14 runs, more importantly surviving 71 deliveries of pace and spin while keeping his skipper company in an unbeaten stand of 70 runs, the highest of the innings.

It is just day one, but already, the home team have taken the edge and the Windies will need to bat very, very well to save this one, let alone win it.

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