Steve Waugh: If you fall out of love with cricket, come to the maidans

Steve Waugh made an unusual entry into the Cricket Club of India on Monday He wasnt armed with his Gunn and Moore with which he scored a hundred the last time he played a firstclass game at the Brabourne Stadium 106 not out against Mumbai in February 2001 but a cameraAnd he walked in from a side gate not the main entrance which leads to the hall where he was accorded a life membership of the Churchgate club in 2001 Waugh 54 is in Mumbai to capture cricketrelated images for his forthcoming book The Spirit of CricketmdashIndiaWaughs presence afforded a pleasant surprise to those spending their afternoon at the Wet Wicket barExAus captain Steve Waugh at the CCI yesterday PicClayton MurzelloIt is always good to come back to India and Mumbai Its one of my favourite places I have some good memories of this placemdasha Test victory here in 2001 and good friends said Waugh post lunch as he was taken around the club by his old mate Sachin BajajExactly 20 seasons ago Waugh played against an Indian team that couldnt win a game against the Australians on their twomonth tour in the summer of 19992000Today India are steamrolling opponents with incredible regularity Waugh wouldnt agree that they are nearinvincible Nor would he say that he is surprised by the transformation He put it down to good systems in place They India are a very good team Australia and India are two sides that are always going to stay strongmdashgood systems good history good tradition India has been amazing and the IPL has a lot to do with that he saidWaugh spent some time in the maidans and was awestruck Over the last couple of days Ive seen the passion of the people how much they love cricket and every game they play is the most important game theyve ever played whether they are playing with friends or trying to become firstclass cricketers You can really see the spirit of cricket in Mumbai If you fall out of love with the game come to the maidans and youll fall in love with the game watching these peopleAnd what sort of thrill does he get from photography Its a real challenge I call myself almost a novice I enjoy it I have taken a lot of photos on tour and worked on the premise that if I take thousands I am going to get some good ones he said getting ready to head to the CCI dressing roomsWaugh was being modest with his almost a novice comment because he is no stranger to photography having published several highlyacclaimed tour diaries whose pages were spiced with photographs that went beyond the interesting categoryIm really enjoying the process of trying to get better as a photographer Cricket taught me to persevere have patience work hard and you can achieve anything I am trying to do the best I can he told midday pointing to some amazing people teaching him one of them Trent Parke who went along with Waugh to visit Mother Teresa at the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata back in 1996Waugh and gang will soon visit other parts of the country and click away for a book that will weigh more than three kilos Hell probably find it easier than what it took to score 1439 international runs on Indian soil and hell have a lot of fun tooCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates