The sight of a hobbling Waugh hitting an unbeaten 157 in the fifth Test against England at the Oval last month using a bat conspicuous for the fact that it didn't have a maker's brand emblazoned on it will remain one of Australian's favourite Ashes memories.
Waugh played the entire tour with that very same 'cleanskin' willow, having just ended his long association with the Gunn and Moore bat company, but unable to reach a contractual arrangement with another. However, all that is set to change with MRF believed to have secured a three-year deal.
The MRF name is not new to cricket, not least because its bats are already used by Indian champion Sachin Tendulkar in a deal that reportedly earns him $200,000 (B219,034) a year. The Madras Rubber Factory is primarily a tyre-making firm - India's biggest - and has a small batmaking division that enables Tendulkar to promote the company without breaking ICC rules.
However, two years ago MRF was forced to defend itself amid allegations that its bats were, in fact, made by English company Millichamp and Hall, the bat maker insisting that if the reports were true the bats should have its name on them.
MRF strenuously denied the allegations.
Waugh, now 36, is edging towards the end of his career and has openly canvassed that he'd like his swansong to be the next World Cup in South Africa in 2004, exactly the time that the reported three-year deal would end.
