Date-stamped : 26 Oct95 - 10:32
Title: Waugh Brewing for  Essex  Author:  Mark  Jeffreys  Source:
Sports Weekly (July 11, 1995)

Diehard Essex supporters are starting to worry about  their  star
Aussie  import,  Mark  Waugh.   Despite toppomh the Sunday League
averages for the club with 42 - so far hitting  a  total of   258
runs  -  the  willow has not yeilded the results Chelmsford offi-
cials or fans have come to expect.

Waugh probably would have jumped back on a return flight  had  he
known  how  his  fourth season in the English County Championship
would unfold.  Within a week, the party atmosphere  of   Bermuda,
where the Aussies were winding down after their win over the West
Indies, must have seemed a world away.  After arriving in Britain
in  May,  Waugh was rushed straight to Hove, on the Sussex coast,
where the next day he was back for a daily dose of cricket.

With two months of the county season still to play, the New South
Welshman, who had played 12 Tests (scoring 895 runs at an average
of 44.75) and 25 one-day internationals for Australia since  last
September, concedes he is under pressure.  Before a recent outing
- when he scored 80 and 48 against Warwickshire - he had  managed
only 236 runs (average 19.66) in 12 four-day innings.

"Yes, I`m starting to feel the strain," said Waugh, 29,  who  be-
lieves  his batting has suffered because of his increased bowling
demands. It`s a situation which could well earn the wrath of  the
Australian  Cricket  Board, which granted permission for Waugh to
play with Essex primarily as a batsman.  "I  don`t  mind  bowling
and  I  knew I`d have to open the bowling and go through 20 to 25
overs then come in at No. 3," he said.  "I`m not that upset by it
and  I  think  I am bowling as well as ever - but I would like to
strike a good balance between the two.  It would be ideal to come
back to a solid 10 overs a game rather than 20."

Waugh has spearheaded the ailing Essex attack in the  absence  of
injured  paceman Mark Ilott and Neil Williams.  The pair returned
against Warwickshire, but Waugh still racked up  15 overs.    The
classy   all-rounder,  who  before  this  season had clocked 5101
first-class runs for Essex at an average of 61.45, says he is un-
likely to return next year.  Essex are also under stress.  Graham
Gooch`s men have flopped twice since winning titles  in  `91  and
`92, and were a distant third-last this time around.

<END> Contributed by Brad Sparkes (BPSPA1@*.cc.monash.edu.au)