Steve Waugh got a bat today for only the third time in this series - and, for the third time, he was out in single-figures. As horror trots go, a sequence of 3, 0 and 8 is pretty tame, even for Australians – only last season Ponting and Gilchrist were batting in binary against India, while Waugh jr bagged consecutive pairs against Sri Lanka in 1992-93. But this is Steve Waugh we are talking about. The man who hopped England into submission at The Oval, and who treated deep-vein thrombosis with a tube of Deep Heat and a jog round the park. When he has a slender spell, people take notice.

And little wonder. He may have taken 42 innings to record his maiden Test century, but not since his fifth Test – 16 years, 136 matches and two cricketing generations ago, has he missed out on double-figures three-times running.

On March 16, 1986 at Auckland, Waugh was dismissed for 0 by John Bracewell, as Australia tumbled from an overnight 32 for 2 to 103 all out. Bracewell finished with figures of 6 for 32, Waugh with a run of 1, 1 and 0, and New Zealand overcame a first innings deficit to win the match by eight wickets, and the series 1-0. Until today they have never again looked capable of beating Australia in a three-Test series.

Andrew Miller is on the staff of Wisden.com

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd