Editing Mark Waugh (section)

==Early years==
{{Main|Early life of Mark and Steve Waugh}}
Born on 2 June 1965 at [[Canterbury Hospital]] in [[Campsie, New South Wales]], Waugh was the second of twin boys born to Rodger and Beverley Waugh. He arrived four minutes after Steve. His father was a bank official and his mother was a teacher within the New South Wales Department of Education.<ref name="born">Knight, pp. 4–5.</ref> The family settled in the [[western Sydney]] suburb of [[Panania, New South Wales|Panania]].<ref>Knight, p. 6.</ref> The twins were later joined by two more brothers, Dean and Danny.<ref>Knight, pp. 9, 13.</ref> From an early age, the parents introduced their children to sport.<ref name="k8"/><ref name="p348">Perry, p. 348.</ref> By the age of six, the twins were playing organised [[football (soccer)|soccer]], [[tennis]] and cricket. In their first cricket match, the brothers were both dismissed for [[duck (cricket)|ducks]].<ref name="k11">Knight, p. 11.</ref>

The twins came from a sporting family. Their paternal grandfather Edward was a [[greyhound racing|greyhound]] trainer. Raised in the northern coastal town of [[Bangalow]], Edward earned selection for the New South Wales Country team in [[rugby league]].<ref>Knight, p. 7.</ref> He was about to join Eastern Suburbs in the [[New South Wales Rugby League]], but had to give up his career due to family reasons.<ref name="k8">Knight, p. 8.</ref> Rodger was Edward's only son and was promising tennis player, who was ranked eighth in Australia in his junior years and was the state champion at under-14 level.<ref name="k8"/> On the maternal side, Bev was a tennis player who won the under-14 singles at the South Australian Championships. Her eldest brother Dion Bourne was an opening batsman who played for [[Bankstown District Cricket Club|Bankstown]] in [[Sydney Grade Cricket]] and remains the leading runscorer in the club's history.<ref name="k8"/>

The twins made their first representative cricket team when they were selected the Bankstown District under-10s at the age of eight.<ref name="k12">Knight, p. 12.</ref> In 1976, the twins were the youngest ever to be selected in the New South Wales Primary Schools' soccer team. Playing for Panania Primary School, the twins swept their school to win the Umbro International Shield, a statewide knockout soccer competition, scoring all of their team's three goals in the final.<ref name="k14">Knight, p. 14.</ref> They were a key part of their school's consecutive state cricket championships<ref name="k14"/> and were part of school tennis team that came second in the state in their final year.<ref name="k15">Knight, p. 15.</ref> In their final year, Mark was the captain of the state primary school cricket and tennis teams, both of which won the national championships.<ref name="p348"/><ref name="k15"/> The twins were instrumental in New South Wales winning the cricket carnival without a defeat.<ref name="p348"/>

By this time, the increasing time demands led to conflicts between the sports and were in one case delisted from a team due to a conflict of commitments.<ref name="k15"/> The twins progressed to [[East Hills Boys Technology High School]], which had a history of producing Australian international representatives in a number of sports.<ref name="k17">Knight, p. 17.</ref> Aged 13, the twins were invited by their uncle Bourne, then the captain of Bankstown's first grade team, to trial for the club's under-16 team for the Green Shield and both were selected. Aged fourteen, both made their senior grade cricket debut in 1979–80, playing in the Fourth XI. The twins broke into East Hills Boys First XI in the same season<ref name="k18">Knight, p. 18.</ref> and achieved the same level in soccer.<ref name="k19">Knight, p. 19.</ref> In 1980–81 the brothers were elevated to the Third XI mid-season. Mark's performance in the Green Shield saw him selected in Bankstown's under-21 team, still aged 15.<ref>Knight, pp. 20–21.</ref> The brothers often won formed a two-man team—in one match, Mark scored a century and then the brothers took 16/85 between them.<ref name="k21">Knight, p. 21.</ref> At the end of 1980, the twins were selected in the state under-16 team for the national carnival, with Mark as vice-captain.<ref name="k22">Knight, p. 22.</ref>

When Mark was 16, he grew around one foot in one year. It was a relief, because he had been diagnosed with the repetitive stress injury [[Osgood-Schlatter disease]] at 15 and told that he would not grow any further than his then height of 152&nbsp;cm.<ref name="k20">Knight, p. 20.</ref> The pair changed soccer teams to play in the reserve grade for [[Sydney United|Sydney Croatia]] in the state league and the pair were paid small amounts in the professional league. However, they quickly left as their cricket careers increasingly demanded more time.<ref name="k23">Knight, p. 23.</ref>

The brothers were promoted to Bankstown's Second XI,<ref name="k23"/> before being selected for the First XI in the 1982–83 season, aged 17, both making their debut against Western Suburbs, with Mark making 97 on debut,<ref name="k24">Knight, p. 24.</ref> ending the season with 427 runs at 30.50. This placed him second in his team's aggregates and he contributed 14 wickets at 10.71.<ref name="k25">Knight, p. 25.</ref> By this time, his coaches had already identified the traits by which Mark was to be characterised in his international career, those of apparent laziness and reliable catching.<ref name="k26"/>

The twins finished high school at the end of 1983.<ref name="k27">Knight, p. 27.</ref> In 1983–84, both were members of New South Wales Combined High Schools and the state under-19 team.<ref name="k26">Knight, p. 26.</ref> Mark was named as the player of the series after scoring two centuries.<ref name="k27"/><ref name="p349"/> The brothers were then selected for Australia for the first time. They had been named in the national under-19 team to play a Test and ODI series against the touring Sri Lankan counterparts.<ref name="k27"/> The under-19 series pitted several future international players against one another.<ref name="k29">Knight, p. 29.</ref> Mark scored 123 in the second Test at the [[Adelaide Oval]].<ref name="k29"/>

Waugh did not contemplate going to university; both he and his brother became sports equipment salesmen.<ref name="p349">Perry, p. 349.</ref><ref name="k834">Knight, pp. 31–32.</ref> He made his maiden First XI century during the season, scoring 108 against Mosman.<ref name="k834"/>

At the start of the 1984–85 season, the brothers were included in the New South Wales state squad.<ref name="k33">Knight, p. 33.</ref>