Steve Waugh had piled up 506 runs at a staggering average of 126.50 during the 1989 Ashes series.
It was the first time that a travelling Australian side had clinched the prestigious urn on English soil since 1964 and the visitors also saw the legendary Steve Waugh in full might during the series.
Waugh had piled up 506 runs at a staggering average of 126.50 as the Allan Border-led team thrashed England by 4-0 in the six-match Test series to regain the Ashes.
Waugh, who later went on to become one of Australia’s most successful captains, shared a courageous tactic that worked for Australia batsmen during the 1989 Ashes.
Even though England’s fast bowling attack was comprised of Neil Foster and Angus Fraser, Aussie top-order decided not to wear helmets while batting.
“It might not have been mentioned, but the top six players didn’t wear helmets on that tour,” Waugh revealed on the Road to the Ashes podcast, as quoted by Fox Sports.
“That was a bit of a collective decision by the batsmen to say: ‘hang on, we’re up for this contest, we don’t need a helmet, we’re going to take the English attack on," he added.
“I look back and it was a pretty brave and bold move and something that maybe has been overlooked. But that was mentality we took in that we were going to take England on," he further said.
Australia smashed England by 210 runs in the opening Test, but Waugh reckons it was a “fluke” win.
“The first Test match was a bit of a fluke really,” Waugh said.
“We were used to losing a lot, so we were happy to draw the Test match, so Allan batted on until just before lunch on the fifth day before we declared, so that was a sign that, firstly, we didn’t want to lose the Test match but, secondly, it was a bit of a bonus if we were going to take some wickets.
“I think we got one before lunch and Merv (Hughes) bowled really well and Terry Alderman and Geoff Lawson, and all of a sudden it started to happen in the middle session and we had this incredible unexpected win against the odds and that gave us enormous belief that we could actually beat England, we could compete and we could do things we didn’t really believe we could do.
“So the first one was by accident and once we got our nose in front, we really started to believe," he concluded.