Pen pictures of the all-conquering Australian team membersÃ?

Profile: Succeeded Allan Border as Australian captain and acknowledged as one of the best leaders ever in the game. Began his Test career by scoring 839 runs (avge 83.90) on the Ashes tour of England. A batsman blessed with a sound technique and great powers of concentration. One of the finest slips fielders in the world. Superb role model on and off the field.

WAUGH, STEPHEN RODGER (NSW, SOMERSET): Nickname: Tugga. Born: June 2, 1965 at Canterbury, Sydney. Right-hand bat & right-arm medium-pacer. Test debut: Australia vs India at Melbourne, 2nd Test, 1985-86.

Profile: Rated among the best batsman in the world. Mentally very tough, he is a prolific batsman. Led Australiain recent ODIs. The only survivor of the 1986 Australian tour to India.

WAUGH, MARK EDWARD (NSW, ESSEX): Born: June 2. 1965, Canterbury, Sydney. Right-hand bat & right-arm off-spinner. Test debut: Australia vs England at Adelaide, 4th Test, 1990-91.

Profile: Twin brother Steve. One of the most elegant and top quality batsman in the world. Also a very useful bowler. One of the stars of the last World Cup in India when he scored three hundreds as an opener. A brilliant and versatile fielder.

WARNE, SHANE KEITH (VICTORIA): Nickname: Hollywood. Born: September 13, 1969, Ferntree Gully, Melbourne. Right hand bat & right-arm leg-break googly bowler. Test Debut: Australia vs India at Sydney, 3rd Test, 1991-92.

Profile: Reached 200 Test wickets in only his 42nd Test. Described by Richie Benaud as "the best leg-spinner I’ve ever seen." His bleached blond hair and outgoing personality on the field have made him a cult figure among Australian fans.

HEALY, IAN ANDREW (QUEENSLAND): Born:April 20, 1964, Spring Hill, Brisbane. Right hand bat & wicket-keeper. Test debut: Australia vs Pakistan at Karachi, 1st Test, 1988-89.

Profile: A stalwart of the team since 1988-89. Good chance to overhaul Rod Marsh’s record of most wicket-keeping dismissals. A proud and aggressive character, he has risen from fraught beginnings in Pakistan to become one of world’s foremost ‘keepers, with excellent footwork and anticipation. These qualities have made him a crucial element in the success of Warne’s leg-spin, not to mention his unrelenting verbal pressure. Never afraid to counter-punch, his aggressive batting has often saved Australia from perilous situations. Healy is astigmatic in both eyes.

BLEWETT, GREGORY SCOTT (SOUTH AUSTRALIA): Born: October 29, 1971, Adelaide. Right-hand bat & right-arm medium-pacer. Test debut: Australia vs England at Adelaide, 4th Test, 1994-95.

Profile: A stylish and reliable bat, has a penchant for pull, hook, cut and cover-drive. Scored three hundreds in his first twoTests. Was involved with Steve Waugh in amassing the 14th highest partnership in Test history in the course of making 214 against South Africa last year. Excellent bat-pad fieldsman. Son of former South Australian captain, Bob Blewett.

PONTING, RICKY THOMAS (TASMANIA): Born: December 19, 1974, Launceston, Tasmania. Right-hand bat & right-arm medium pacer. Can also keep wickets. Test Debut: Australia vs Sri Lanka at Perth, 1st Test, 1995-96.

Profile: Already talked of as a future captain of Australia. A precocious talent, he debuted for his state at the age of 17, and his first-class career has described a steady upward curve since then. Naturally aggressive in outlook, with nearly every shot in the book.

REIFFEL, PAUL RONALD (Victoria): Nickname: Pistol. Born: April 19, 1966, Box Hill, Victoria. Right hand bat & right-arm fast-medium bowler. Test debut: Australia vs India at Perth, 5th Test, 1991-92.

Profile: Ability to bowl an awkward line to the left-handers, getting the ball to pitcharound leg-stump and cut away towards slips. Reiffel’s naturally laid-back personality tends to disguise his athleticism. However, Reiffel does tend to have problems with no-balling, and has demonstrated that he can be less threatening on pitches with little movement. A challenging tour ahead for him.

SLATER, MICHAEL JONATHON (NWS): Nickname: Slats or Sybil. Born: Feb 21, 1970, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Test debut: Australia vs England at Manchester, 1st Test, 1993.

Profile: Dashing, nimble-footed opening bat who has destroyed many an international new ball attack. Scored a hundred in his second Test. A fit man, loves golf, cycling and weightlifting.

KASPROWICZ, MICHAEL SCOTT (Queesland): Born: February 10, 1972, South Brisbane. Right-hand bat & right-arm fast bowler. Test Debut: Australia vs West Indies at Brisbane, 1st Test, 1996-97.

Profile: A consistent wicket-taker. Tall and lanky, he has overcome regular injury woes to become one of Australia’s most highly-regarded contemporarypacemen. Displays sufficient variation and bowls a tight line and length to ensure that he is never an easy to counter. Possesses a bustling run-up and an open-chested mode of delivery, his bowling action and pace are both lively and he exhibits a capacity to bowl hostile spells over sustained periods. Kasprowicz’s stock ball is a leg-cutter delivered just short of a length but it is most commonly the combination of his propensity to cut the ball both ways off the seam and his capacity to produce a deceptively quick faster ball. At schoolboy level, he was also an outstanding rugby union player.

MACGILL, STUART CHARLES GLYNDWR (NSW, W AUSTRALIA & SOMERSET): Born: February 25, 1971, Mount Lawley, Perth. Right-hand bat & leg-break googly bowler. Test Debut: Australia vs South Africa at Adelaide, 3rd Test, 1997-98.

Profile: Highly promising leg-spinner with excellent variation. His trademark delivery is a relatively flat and short leg-break which pitches on about the line of the right handed batsman’soff stump and turns to finish outside it. Also bowls a nicely aimed top-spinner and a flipper which, whilst it does not spin appreciably, is cleverly disguised and is rarely ill-directed. something of a temperamental player. Son of former Western Australian spinner, Terry Macgill (who played for the state between 1968 and 1973), and the grandson of Charlie Macgill (who represented WA as an all-rounder between 1938 and 1951), he is above all a rapidly improving and maturing cricketer whose star is clearly on the rise.

ROBERTSON, GAVIN RON (TASMANIA & NEW SOUTH WALES): Nickname: Robbo. Born: May 28, 1966, St Leonards, New South Wales. Right hand bat & right-arm off-break bowler. Has played only ODIs.

Profile: An attacking off-spinner and more than useful lower middle-order batsman. He possesses a variety in flight and the ability to turn the ball. Also enjoys soccer, tennis and golf.

LEHMANN, DARREN SCOTT (VICTORIA & S AUSTRALIA): Born: February 5, 1970, Gawler, South Australia. Left-handbat & slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Has only played only One-Day Internationals (ODI).

Profile: A free-scoring bat, occasional spinner and competent slip and short leg fielder. Made his first-class debut as a seventeen year old in the 1987-88 season and approaching the end of the 1997 calendar year, has amassed over 10,000 first class runs at an average of 51. Risen to eleventh position on the list of all-time leading run scorers in Sheffield Shield cricket.

WILSON, PAUL (SOUTH AUSTRALIA): Nickname: Blocker. Born: January 12, 1972, Newcastle, NSW. Right-hand bat & right-arm fast-medium bowler. Has played only ODIs.

Profile: If the qualities of determination, tenacity and persistence as well as a considerable degree of raw ability are to count for anything, then it is clear that Wilson has a great future ahead. In 1991, he quit his job as a trainee accountant and made an unsolicited request for a spot at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide. Has the ability to extract surprising bounce onaccount of his imposing frame.

DALE, ADAM CRAIG DALE (QUEESLAND): Born: December 30, 1968, Ivanhoe, Queensland. Left-hand bat & right-arm fast-medium bowler. Has played only ODIs.

Profile: Has come from the obscurity of playing for the state Second XI in Victoria, to taking the new ball for Australia. Had a bumper Shield season in 1996-97 — some 40-odd wickets at 21 apiece. Earned him a surprise call-up for the one-day games in South Africa. Always hard to get away, an attribute that has seen him earn a superb economy rate.

MARSH, GEOFFREY ROBERT (W AUSTRALIA): Coach Born: December 31, 1958, Northam, Western Australia. Right-hand bat. Test debut: Australia vs India at Adelaide, 1st Test, 1985-86. Last Test: Australia vs India at Adelaide, 4th Test, 1991-92.