In the build-up to the fourth Test in Melbourne speculation about his position intensified. It was suggested that if he failed to retire he would be dropped after the fifth Test in Sydney.The possibility of it being the last time he played at the MCG swelled the Boxing Day attendance to over 64,000. Australia took just 11 days to retain the Ashes but former players and sections of the media felt that the 37-year-old no longer merited a place in the side.This mood bewildered those of us who had watched Waugh ruthlessly expose the shortcomings of English cricket for 13 years, but a closer inspection of his form backed up the sentiment. Twelve months ago, his career appeared to be coming to an ignominious end. There is no place in the game for premeditated sledging – or “mental disintegration”, as Australians call it – and the catch he claimed in 1995 in Barbados to dismiss Brian Lara in the gully, when it clearly hit the floor, put him in a poor light.Breaking down the career of a player who has achieved almost every honour the game has to offer is impossible, but to me the last year has defined Steve Waugh. That the ball went to the boundary off his outside edge did not concern him – the runs were in the scorebook.There were times when his desire to win overstepped the mark.

His parents played tennis and squash to a high level and sport was always on the menu.Steve did not have to travel far to find a more gifted sportsman than himself. Mark, his twin brother, was the Waugh with elegance and style. To compete with him in the backyard, Steve needed to play hard. It is a characteristic that has remained with him throughout his career.Like the former Australia captain Allan Border – who would have had a profound influence on Steve when he was young – he did not really care what he looked like at the crease A poor shot seldom affected his concentration All that counted was the next delivery.

There were not as many ways to get him out.His was not a pampered childhood. He was raised in Bankstown, a southern suburb of Sydney, where you had to be tough to get on in life. Waugh rarely fails to get what he wants.Determined, intense, competitive, dedicated, courageous, proud, loyal, ambitious, traditional, ruthless: there are many ways to describe Stephen Rodger Waugh. Australia, under Waugh’s aggressive leadership, have changed the nature of Test cricket, while his cap has became the symbol of Australian domination.Their historic journey comes to an end this week in his home town, Sydney, when the pair will be on official duty for the final time A series against India is there to be won. In their later years both have begun to look a bit weathered but since his Test debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1985 the pair have been inseparable.