Editing Mark Waugh (section)

===Bribery scandal re-emerges===

{{See also|John (bookmaker)}}
Waugh made starts in all four innings of the first two Ashes Tests in Australia in 1998–99, scoring 31, 27*, 36 and 17* as the first two matches were drawn and won respectively.<ref name="k276">Knight, p. 276.</ref> In the build-up to the third Test in Adelaide, news broke that in 1994–95 Waugh and Shane Warne had accepted money from an Indian bookmaker in exchange for pitch and weather information. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) has secretly fined both players for their actions.<ref name="k276"/> The ACB's suppression of the case and the actions of the two players were widely condemned.<ref>Knight, pp. 276–282.</ref>

Waugh was booed when he went out to bat in the first innings and, apparently rattled by the hostile reception, he batted scratchily for 36 minutes before being dismissed for seven. He regarded it as the most difficult day of his career.<ref>Knight, pp. 279–280.</ref> In the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 51 and was given a standing ovation by some parts of the crowd in contrast to other hostile sections. He took three catches in England's second innings as Australia won the match to retain the Ashes.<ref name="k282">Knight, p. 282.</ref> Waugh scored 36 and 43 in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which saw him pass 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year.<ref name="k282"/>

Waugh started 1999 as he did the previous year, with a century in the New Year's Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After being dropped before he had scored, Waugh scored 121 in five hours on the first day, sharing a partnership of 190 with his brother. He became the fifth Australian to take 100 Test catches when he caught [[Nasser Hussain]] in the first innings from the bowling of [[Colin Miller (cricketer)|Colin Miller]]. Australia won the Test and Waugh ended the series with 393 runs at 56.14, placing him second in the batting averages.<ref>Knight, p. 283.</ref> In the ODI series, he scored six consecutive half-centuries in a consistent run that augured well for the upcoming World Cup.<ref name="odilist">{{cite web| title= Statsguru – ME Waugh – ODIs – Innings by innings list | url=http://stats.cricinfo.com/guru?sdb=player;playerid=1985;class=odiplayer;filter=basic;team=0;opposition=0;notopposition=0;season=0;homeaway=0;continent=0;country=0;notcountry=0;groundid=0;startdefault=1985-12-26;start=1985-12-26;enddefault=2004-01-06;end=2004-01-06;tourneyid=0;finals=0;daynight=0;toss=0;scheduledovers=0;scheduleddays=0;innings=0;result=0;followon=0;seriesresult=0;captain=0;keeper=0;dnp=0;recent=;viewtype=aro_list;runslow=;runshigh=;batposition=0;dismissal=0;bowposition=0;ballslow=;ballshigh=;bpof=0;overslow=;overshigh=;conclow=;conchigh=;wicketslow=;wicketshigh=;dismissalslow=;dismissalshigh=;caughtlow=;caughthigh=;caughttype=0;stumpedlow=;stumpedhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype | publisher=[[Cricinfo]]| access-date=5 June 2008}}</ref> His tally of 542 runs at 49.27 was the highest for the tournament. For the majority of the ODI tournament, Waugh acted as vice-captain to Warne as his brother Steve was sidelined by a hamstring strain.<ref>Knight, pp. 285–286.</ref><ref name="p357">Perry, p. 357.</ref>