Viral Steve Waugh clip keeps on giving with fresh BBL stitch-up

The former Australian cricket captain was in the crowd to watch Ash Barty bulldoze her way into the Australian Open final with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of American Madison Keys on Thursday night and he liked what he saw.

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But for all the attention on Barty’s trademark slice backhand at Rod Laver Arena, the man known as the Ice Man in his playing days — famous for coining the term “mental disintegration” when it came to sledging opponents — managed to steal the spotlight for a brief moment.

At one stage TV cameras panned to Waugh and showed him tucking into an ice-cream and after taking a bite and licking his lips, the great man gave a nod of approval.

The internet went wild, comparing it to a famous Seinfeld clip of George slobbering over a chocolate sundae at the 1993 US Open, and it was a point of discussion during Friday night’s Big Bash final.

The Scorchers thrashed the Sydney Sixers by 79 runs in a lopsided decider and midway through Perth’s batting innings the Fox Cricket commentators turned their attention to Waugh at the tennis.

Mark Howard used the viral clip to poke fun at Steve’s brother Mark, who was sitting alongside him in the commentary box, bringing up an old video of the former Aussie star feeding a Cornetto to his pet donkey Bully.

“It runs in the family, because he’s a man that likes a Cornetto, but it’s not just him that likes a Cornetto,” Howard laughed

“You’ve got your family as well. Your donkey eats Cornettos.

“There were a couple of little carrots there — he wasn’t interested in the carrots … he was all about the Cornetto.

“I love that shot of your brother how he just turned his neck as if to say, ‘You know what, these really are sharp’.”

Mark Waugh was happy to have a laugh at his own expense. “Tell you what, I don’t give many Cornettos away either. It must have fallen on the ground for me to give it to him (Bully),” he said.

“Tell you what he’s having a good chew there, Bully.

“I reckon Bully’s got better manners than Stephen.”

Bully — named so because he likes to act like the boss — is actually an important part of the horse racing stable run by Mark’s wife Kim, and is a big hit on social media.

“Everyone loves the donkey, he’s so cheeky,’’ Kim says on her website. “He follows everyone around, bites people on the bum and has everyone in stitches.

“The horses really like playing with him. He gallops through the barn and they don’t even care, they are fascinated by him.”

Originally published as Viral Steve Waugh clip keeps on giving with fresh BBL stitch-up