Who was your favourite Australian teammate?
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What's your favourite wicket from your Australian career?
Is it true you had to dive to the ground to avoid a swarm of bees in India?
These were just some of the questions lobbed at Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh by local children in a packed-out Riverside 1 clubhouse on Monday.
The former Australian captain and world number one test batter was in town to run an all-day coaching clinic and attend a dinner held last night. He spent the day working with over 120 young cricketers between the ages of eight and 16, who flocked from across the North West region to receive tutelage from one of the country's greatest sportspeople.
At the end of the clinic, Waugh, flanked by his son, Austin, and Sydney first grade cricketer Tom Brooks, fielded roughly a dozen questions from the gathered kids.
Of all of them, the Leader's standout was "Who was your favourite batting partner?"
Many in the room were expecting Waugh to name his twin brother and fellow Test cricket great, Mark.
"I liked Dean Jones," Waugh said.
"He was good fun to bat with, because he was a really quick runner and when I was young, I was quick as well. Not any more.
"I used to really enjoy batting with him ... I always liked batting with Ian Healy as well. He used to bat after me and we had a lot of partnerships together."
One of the cheekier parents in the crowd then called out: "It wasn't your brother?"
"No, we used to run each other out too much," Waugh replied.
Amid the light-hearted moments, Waugh imparted wisdom to the assembled children. He extolled the virtues of training hard, being dedicated, and always being a good teammate.
Ultimately, however, he told the Leader that he really hoped to inspire in them a love for the sport and of being part of a team.
"Cricket is a team sport, so working together and things you can achieve together by being a unified group and helping each other out," Waugh said.
"It's more about that than becoming a future Australian cricketer, there's only a few of those. It's about having a good time, learning some life lessons, and having the ability to get on with people around you."
The event was instigated by Central North Cricket chairman, Terry Psarakis, who was informed by friend Jason Brooks that Waugh was interested in holding a local clinic.
Psarakis gave much of the credit for the event's organisation, which was done in just over two weeks, to CNC secretary, Hayley Bullock.
Once his time with the kids was wrapped up, Waugh travelled to the West Tamworth Leagues Club for a dinner which was attended by roughly 70 people.
"Steve was very honest, he answered a lot of questions," Psarakis said.
"He took photos with people, and he was signing copies of his book for people who wanted to buy it. And he left at about quarter past nine, so it was a big day."
