How could I not say something today about Shane Warne today after today’s news? It was announced today that Warne has died, aged 52. This news came just hours after the sad news about Rod Marsh who was before my time. Somehow, Warne is more shocking to me. I remember that first test match against England, and “The Gatting destroyer” which set the tone for the next 15 years.
Think Shane Warne, think of totally lost batsmen. Mike Gatting in 1993, Alec Stewart in 1994 (the ‘flipper’) just for starters. Not to mention Devon Malcolm. And I shudder at the memory of Mark Ramprakash (who did ok against Warne) and Sir Andrew Strauss, in different decades, leaving balls that were miles outside the stumps….to be clean bowled (at least Gatting was playing a shot).
Shane Warne was the name that struck fear into the heart of an England fan. Yes, we think of Warne alongside Glen McGrath, and McGrath was a fabulous and very accurate bowler. But Warne was something else.
In 1993, England were not a particularly good team, though I would argue a better team than England in 2022 (that is another conversation). But it did seem like England could bat. Graham Gooch, Michael Atherton, Alec Stewart and Robin Smith sound like a good top 4. Graeme Hick had belted Warne all over the place in a warmup game. And then, of course, Mike Gatting, one of the best players of spin around. I was at school, but I saw the highlights. Gatting looking at Ian Healy – “surely you knocked those bails off mate”. Dickie Bird was in shock. So was I, and I knew it was coming. Perhaps the only person not to be surprised by ‘the Gatting destroyer’ was Richie Benaud who calmly uttered the words “He’s done it” on television. On the other channel, Tony Lewis was a bit more flustered; “now what’s happened”. All of a sudden, England could not bat.
In 1995 it was the hat-trick and David Boon taking THAT catch, in 1997 it was dancing on the balcony at Trent Bridge. I mean, he took 195 wickets against England without even taking part in the 1999 series. Poor old Stuart MacGill would have been a guaranteed selection in any other era for Australia.
Of course, Warne’s career spanned eras – not many bowlers would have been able to claim wickets of Gooch and Gatting alongside Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. Arguably, only Gooch had any mastery of Warne – who greeted Gooch by saying “Good morning Mr Gooch”. That meant that he came under the influence of Allan Border, who taught him (and Australia) how to be a winner – for example by hiding all his variations in that warmup against Hick. Then Mark Taylor was tactically brilliant. He knew what to do with Warne. Steve Waugh was brilliant enough that he was not intimidated by Warne – he even dropped him in the West Indies. I think that gave Warne the determination to carry on. Ricky Ponting was an average captain but Warne knew his game by then.
What was it about Shane Warne? Obviously, he was darn good which helps. But the thing was that he knew when to deploy his skill. Consider the Adelaide disaster in 2006. Australia could not win that game after England scored 550, surely? Well, firstly Warne tied England down. He led them into a great big hole. Then he pounced. I cannot share any more from that miserable day – but look here if you must.
More than anything though, Warne never gave up. I first saw that in 1997 when England thrashed Australia at Edgebaston (another false dawn). Nasser Hussain scored 207 and took Warne apart…until Warne came up with a perfect ball and Hussain was gone. England still won, and Warne never gave up (he was also Australia’s top scorer in the first innings of that game).
The ‘never say die’ was more obvious in 2005. England won the Ashes – just. Yes, Warne dropped THAT catch which added 18 months to his career. Warne kept bowling and bowling. Then he became a world-beating allrounder, almost out of nowhere. Imagine if he had not kicked his stumps at Edgebaston? His 90 at Old Trafford was the difference between a draw and a loss. And at Trent Bridge he took 4/31 and Matthew Hoggard had to hit the winning runs. Gosh, it was close.
In 2009 I felt that England would win the Ashes at home – and they did. The only time I got concerned was when they talked about Warne making a come-back. He was probably right not to, but I think just by being in the team he could have induced 2 or 3 collapses of 2021 proportions. By saying silly things (see Ian Bell, The Shermanator), pulling funny faces (1994 hat-trick) and inventing new names for his deliveries (what even was the Zooter) he got batsmen to do crazy things and reduced Robin Smith to a gibbering wreck. It was such a relief when he packed it in! Though of course, he went on to be an amazing part of the Hampshire team and did a few other things pretty successfully.
England fans like me loved to hate Warne. Even on television, as a commentator, he drove me mad but was annoyingly good. As a bowler he was brilliant. But he was a showman. I sat in the crowd at Old Trafford in 1997 while thousands of England fan’s sang “You fat *******” and “who ate all the pies” and Warne turned round and joined in! But even I had to chuckle when he danced on the balcony at Trent Bridge, having once again retained the urn.
Lord Botham says Warne was a legend on and off the field. Cricket will not see the like again.
On this sad day for Australian cricket, I do not want to ignore Rod Marsh. He was before my time, but I have seen many replays of that famous catch off Gary Gilmore in 1975. It is always wonderful to hear Jim Laker as well (he was just the best!). That catch is included here, along with a nice interview with Allan Knott, surely Marsh’s contemporary.
Cricketed 