Steve Waugh has been at the grandest Olympics spectacle at Beijing, helping the Australian squad shed their nerves on the big stage. And he’s been in several iconic cricketing clashes against West Indies, England and later the Indians and South Africans. But the head that ticked shrewdly under his Baggy Green during his playing days says the twain — cricket and the Olympics — need not necessarily meet in the coming years.

“The Olympics is fantastic. But if that is going to be the ultimate experience and platform in your sport, then it’s fine to be there. I don’t think winning a T20 game — which seems the likely format — will ever be the ultimate for any cricketer,” said the former Australian captain.

Cricket, heading into yet another T20 spectacle, the Champions League, has been pushing for a spot in sport’s greatest quadrennial and has now found an acceptably short format of the T20 that can be fitted into the two-week scheme of an Olympic Games.

But Waugh said: “In case it’s not the ultimate goal as a cricketer, you shouldn’t be there.” Waugh had led Australia to a gold medal finish in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, where cricket debuted in a multi-discipline sports celebrations. “Turning out for the national side might get restricted in certain cases with the busy schedule of T20 club cricket. But there’s no greater feeling than walking out for a Test match representing 20 million Australians, and I think the same’s true for an Indian representing 1.2 billion.” he added.

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