The Sydney Cricket Ground gave Steve Waugh a standing ovation as he walked unhurriedly to the wicket on Friday afternoon.

The emotion was obvious.

Everyone in the crowd felt this could be the great man's last Test.

Unless.

'Don't go Steve,' one sign implored.

The Australian selectors were apparently determined to get rid of the one man in the team who had given his country so much.

He wasn't scoring enough. His average, a paltry (by Waughian standards, that is) 30.4 last year.

Nearly 38, he was getting on too.

No one could mistake the hint: It was time, like his twin Mark, that he retired.

Waugh heard the clamour louder than anyone else.

Typically, his response was a dour silence.

He knew he had a lot at stake this inning, and he knew he had to make his bat sing.

On Thursday, he had equalled his former skipper Allan Border's record for the most Test appearances: 156.

Now, he was on the verge of equalling two other milestones.

But first, he needed to prove a point to the gray eminences -- Border. David Boon. Andrew Hilditch. Trevor Hohns -- who felt he was not good enough to wear the baggy green cap he has worn since he first made his debut as a callow 20 year old against India on Boxing Day, 1985.

There was nothing in his manner to suggest he felt either the weight of posterity or the pressure of keeping his place in the side.

Andrew Caddick, who had sent the Australian top order batting into a tizzy with 3 for 29, quickly discovered why players and spectators around the world believe Waugh is the batsman they would employ to play for their life.

Imperiously, Waugh cut, then drove the English fast bowler for four after four. Caddick went for 33 in three overs.

In no time at all, Waugh was 50, with 10 fours.

Just 19 runs to become the third cricketer in history to reach that ultimate statistic -- 10,000 runs in Test cricket. 

In the mood he was on Friday afternoon, no one watching the game at the SCG and on television doubted it would happen.

When it did, there was barely an acknowledgement of the feat.

Just a slight nod of the head, the raising of the bat, then back to business.

The crowd, and people all over the cricketing world, rose to acknowledge the hero.

Mark Waugh, dapper and handsome in retirement, was on his feet, displaying emotion that was almost never apparent when the twins batted or played together.

The cameras then drew to the other Australian who had ascended that peak -- Allan Border, who believes Steve Waugh is a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar. Border had passed the 10,000 run mark exactly 10 years ago, incredibly at the SCG.

The other member of the 10,000 club is away in New Zealand, commenting on the depressing fortunes of the Indian team.

Steve Waugh can expect an email from Sunil Gavaskar this evening.

But it was not finished.

There was the little matter of settling the dispute about his worthiness in the world's best cricket team. 

Appropriately for a dream day, that came magically off the last ball of the match when Waugh hit a boundary and equalled Don Bradman's Australian record of 29 Test hundreds.

Steve Waugh, 102 not out.

If any one still needed confirmation that the man is an authentic legend, January 3, 2003 was the day that provided it.