Last summer in Sydney Steve Waugh played his final test match. At least it was his final match encased in the body that we know as Steve Waugh. During that match there was a moment when I swear I saw Steve’s entire spirit pass into the body of Damien Martyn. Marto took a hot chance at point just over his head. The way in which he threw the ball away over his shoulder, like nothing was anything, was precisely Steve Waugh. Too precise not to be Steve Waugh. It was not imitation or likeness or resemblance. It was an actual transformation. The Steve Waugh in Marto is still evident to this day, little shakes of the shoulders, the way he jogs between wickets like nothing is anything. Today in Bangalore Marto was welcomed to the crease by a pumped up, close in, Indian field, hot on the comeback trail. It was hot out there. Marto could have done with a glass of water. They were razzin him alright, razzin him right up. The ball was leaping and striking at angles unheard off. But the Steve Waugh in Marto stood face to face with the field, and pretty much told em that he wasn’t havin none of their nonsense. He focussed hard on understanding the turn & things very soon calmed down as Marto consolidated his position at the crease. In the recent past he has struggled to incorporate the form of Steve into his own being, but I think today he began to accept it, use it to his advantage, and let the Steve Waugh in him exert its power. By the end of the day Marto was smiling a lot. Internally the waugh machine was at work but outwardly, now, Marto was at ease with his new constitution. Steve would never smile like that. Steve would never smile. I’ve got a very good feeling about this innings of Marto’s(teve’s). 29 n.o. overnight.