Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie collision saga

The horrific collision between Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie on September 10, 1999, was among the worst accidents in cricketing history. When Australia and Sri Lanka met in Kandy for the first Test in 1999, we had no idea that one of the most brutal fielding incidents would occur.

The Sri Lankans were sailing at 139/3 on Day 2. During the 39th over of the innings, Mahela Jayawardene top-edged a sweep shot off Colin Miller’s bowling. Jason Gillespie was shielding at deep square-leg while Steve Waugh was defending at short fine-leg. Both the players went for the catch but didn’t notice each other coming in.

Both Australian players collided, resulting in the catch being dropped and causing injuries to them. Waugh was laying down holding his nose, which was bleeding heavily, and Gillespie was struggling to get up. Waugh went out with a bandaged nose and a towel around his head after the play was stopped for a few moments. Reg Dickason, the security manager, and Dave Misson, the fitness manager, helped Gillespie off the field.

They were taken to Colombo Hospital, and there was only one way to do it because neither of them participated in the Test anymore. Gillespie finished up with a broken leg after tests revealed it was fractured. He was ruled out until December 2000 as a result of this, whereas Waugh returned for the next Test, 11 days after the Kandy incident.

The broken nose was a turning point of his captaincy career, says Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh later remembered that the collision with Jason Gillespie was a watershed moment in his captaincy career, as he sat in the hospital bed wondering if he’d ever have the chance to lead Australia again. He determined that if the opportunity presented itself, he would take it.

“From that point on I said just trust my gut instinct and do it my way. And that was probably the turning point in my captaincy career.

“I wasn’t a certainty to play the next Test. I had compound fractures of my nose and … all these other broken bones, so I was thinking maybe I’m not going to play the next Test and if I don’t, somebody else will be captain and I might never get the chance to do it again. That was the moment where I sat down and thought, ‘OK, from now on I’ve got to do it my way’ — and listen to a few people but not listen to a lot of people,” revealed Waugh on the podcast by In the Game.

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