'Don't worry about it': Steve Waugh’s classy gesture to Bangladesh

When Bangladesh walked into their first Test in Australia in 2003, they were not exactly greeted with open arms.

They were a young Test nation, with only three years of Test status and no victory in the format. Some in Australia questioned whether they belonged at all.

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But Steve Waugh, captain of one of the greatest teams in cricket history, saw things differently.

On the eve of the first Test in Darwin, Waugh quietly approached Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud and offered words of encouragement after seeing criticism of the visitors in the Australian media.

The late former Australia all-rounder David Hookes had written that Bangladesh did not deserve Test status and urged Waugh's team to “annihilate” them.

Waugh wanted Mahmud to know that those words did not represent the Australian dressing room.

“Before the Test series kicked off in Darwin, there was a get-together, and we were having evening tea, and while we were standing out at the balcony and chatting among ourselves, out of nowhere Steve Waugh suddenly came over and asked me how I was doing?” Mahmud later recalled to Cricbuzz.

“Later he (Waugh) asked, ‘Do you guys read the newspapers?’ I said, ‘Not usually, but sometimes.’ He asked, ‘Did you read David Hookes comment?’ I said, ‘Yes, we did.’ He told us, ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s just a mad man talking and I believe you are a much better team than that and you’ll play well against us. I wish you all the best.’”

It was a brief conversation, but one Mahmud never forgot.

The contrast between Waugh's words and what awaited Bangladesh on the field could hardly have been greater.

Australia were one of the most formidable teams in world cricket, while Bangladesh had only gained Test status in 2000. The visitors had no Test victory to their name and were facing a side packed with players who had dominated international cricket for years.

Australia won the first Test in Darwin by an innings and 132 runs, before completing another innings victory in Cairns.

But Mahmud remembered that Australia's dominance never came with the humiliation he had feared.

“We heard the Australians sledge a lot, but we didn’t see any of it on the field,” he said.

“Steve Waugh’s team didn’t go anywhere near sledging. Even against a weak and inexperienced team like ours, their approach and application was 100 per cent professional.”

“They didn’t bowl any loose deliveries – full toss, half volley, over pitched or short of length. They played with a 100 per cent professional approach.”

Australia simply played their cricket.

Darren Lehmann scored 110 in the first Test and followed it with 177 in Cairns. Waugh also made an unbeaten century in Darwin, becoming only the second player after South Africa's Gary Kirsten to score a Test hundred against every other Test-playing nation at the time.

For Bangladesh, however, the lasting memory of the tour was not simply the scorecards.

It was the way Waugh treated them before a ball had even been bowled.

Bangladesh had arrived as outsiders, facing questions over whether they belonged among Test cricket's established nations. Waugh could have dismissed them as an easy opponent.

Instead, he walked over, spoke to their captain and offered reassurance.

The Australian captain could not change the gulf between the two teams. He could, however, make sure Bangladesh knew that they had earned their place at the table.

And for Mahmud, that gesture from one of cricket's most intimidating captains lasted far longer than the two heavy defeats.