Honour to pass Don says Waugh

BRIDGETOWN: Steve Waugh said it was an honour to pass the great Sir. Donald Bradman as Australia’s most prolific century-maker in Test cricket, but was quick to play down yesterday’s achievement.

“It’s a great honour to pass Sir Donald Bradman,” Australian captain Waugh said. “But...I’ve played 107 more Tests, so that puts it in perspective.” Waugh’s gritty 115 led Australia to a mammoth 605 for nine declared and the upper hand in the Third Test against the West Indies. It was the 37-year-old Australian captain’s 30th century in his 159th Test. The late Bradman amassed his 29 hundreds from just 52 matches between 1928 and 1948. “It’s a record I probably won’t have for that long,” Waugh said. “The way (Waugh’s vice-captain) Ricky Ponting is going, he has 17 hundreds already and I’m sure he’ll take over someday. So I’m really just a caretaker.”

This was Waugh’s second innings of the series, which the rest of his batsmen have dominated as Australia cruised to a 2-0 lead in the four-Test series against the West Indies. “I had to work for it because I felt like I hadn’t batted for a long while,” Waugh said of his innings. “It was such a slow wicket and hard to force runs on.” “I don’t think it was my best Test hundred, but I was pleased to get it because I had to work hard,” Waugh added. The touring skipper was critical of the benign nature of the pitch, which has produced 694 runs for just nine wickets over the first two days. “I’ve played 159 Tests and this is the slowest wicket I have ever played on,” he said.