“He was arguably the greatest cricketer ever to play the game. The game is about entertaining people, and there was never a dull moment when Shane Warne had the ball in his hand. He was an absolute genius.”
-Nasser Hussain, former England captain
The downpour of emotions at the departure of the greatest leg spinner of cricket was quite understandable. A big reason for all the tributes was of course the sheer genius of the man on the field. However, Shane Warne was one of those rare cricketers whose genius couldn’t be limited to the game itself. Somehow, Warne at times was bigger than the match, the team, and sometimes, the game.
Box office. Yes, that’s what they called him. Cricket in general is not universally popular, mainly due to the length of the matches. Many find the game dull and boring. Fans, in general, want fours and sixes from the game – watching batters score plenty is the most attractive part of cricket to most fans.
And then there was Shane Keith Warne. With whom, every delivery was an event. For whom, people got stuck to the television.
With him around, something was bound to happen, and you couldn’t miss it. You couldn’t dare.
You would be absorbed by the effortless charisma of the guy with zinc cream on his nose and lips – just the way you would be consumed by a sumptuous movie or TV show. Yes, that’s what Shane Warne was. Box office.
Shane Warne was the greatest entertainer in the game of cricket ever, and he was not devoid of controversies off the field. Tabloids would have field days with his exploits, most of which he deserved, and some of which he was just unlucky about. But you could tell that he couldn’t care less.
The Start of It All: A Freak Injury and Broken Legs
Warne’s greatest ability was to spin the ball to a ridiculous extent. His fingers were enormous, and his hands had incredible strength – a combination of which allowed him to generate vicious turns into his classic leg breaks. However, why couldn’t others do it as well? Well, maybe they didn’t have horrific injuries like Warne did.
When he was 7, Warne had a horrible injury and broke both of his legs. He had to roam around in a trolley. He used his hands to pedal the trolley forward, which gradually generated a lot of power in his wrists. For a wrist spinner, strength in the wrists is crucial. And Warne acknowledged the significance his injury had in honing his incredible leg-spin abilities.
The Gatting Ball: The Ball of the Century
“First ball in test cricket in England for Shane Warne. And he’s done it! He’s started off with the most beautiful delivery! Gatting has absolutely no idea what’s happened to him. He still doesn’t know.”
-Richie Benaud, Australian commentator on witnessing ‘The Gatting Ball’
Shane Warne had already put in some decent performances since his debut. However, he had never bowled in English soil. And the first ball he delivers, he creates history.
The delivery was so sublime, and so ridiculously inexplicable, that Mike Gatting, the victim of the ball of the century, genuinely thought that wicketkeeper Ian Healy knocked the bails off the stumps, not the ball. And with that ball, the world knew: Shane Warne had arrived.
Shane Warne went on to take 72 wickets in 1993, the highest figure in a calendar year by a spinner at that time.
The 1999 World Cup: Rising Beyond All the Odds
“Some people are brilliant at the game, some people are genius, some people had fight. Shane Warne had everything in abundance.”
-Nasser Hussain, former England captain
Warne’s prowess with the red ball did get into the white-ball cricket as well. However, as he got involved in various scandals, his performances started to drop, especially in ODIs – so much so that he was dropped in the series against West Indies. He was also recovering from shoulder injuries. As a leg-spinner, Warne had to rely a lot on the strength of his shoulder. At that point, many were writing him off, and Warne himself was contemplating retirement.
Australia’s start to the world cup was disappointing. It was at a point where Australia had to win seven consecutive matches to reach the final. Warne was delivering average performances, and the team was contemplating whether to drop him.
Then came the match against South Africa. Arguably the greatest One Day match in history.
Australia batted first and managed to score a meager 213. And things were not looking well when South Africa were 48-0 within 12 overs.
Enter Shane Warne.
The second ball he bowls, he knocks the stumps off, bamboozling Herschelle Gibbs with a scintillating leg break that pitched outside leg and hit the top of the off-stump. This was eerily reminiscent of ‘The Gatting Ball’.
Five balls later, he takes out Gary Kirsten with another classic leg break. Clean bowled. One delivery later, Warne picks up his third victim in eight deliveries. This time, it was Hansie Cronje. And all of a sudden, South Africa were 53-3. The match had turned on its head.
Warne ended up with figures of 29/4 from his 10 overs. And yes, the match was famous for its ludicrous mix-up at the end when somehow Alan Donald got run out and turned himself into a national villain when South Africa only needed one run to win. The match was tied and Australia went on to the finals as per the rules of that tournament. However, Shane Warne, on his own, turned the match on its head with an incredible performance that exuded sheer willpower, charisma, and raw talent. (If you wish to watch the 3 wickets, you’ll find it in the video from 5:47 to 7:25).
Warne turned up on the big occasion once again in the final against Pakistan, taking 4 wickets for 33 and helping Australia restrict Pakistan to only 132. Australia won by 9 wickets, Warne received his second Man of the Match award in a row, and that too in the semifinal and the final. If there ever was a big match player, it was Shane Warne.
Ashes 2005: The Lone Warrior
“When Australia really needed him in that 2005 Ashes series, when England were all over Australia, and they were crumbling; there was one Aussie that stood up and said, “Not today, I’m gonna keep going.” He got wickets by the shedload, he got runs by the shedload, and he showed a lot of fight and character.”
-Nasser Hussain, former England captain
‘The Strauss Ball’. 46/6 at Edgbaston. 40 wickets in the series. 240 runs as well. Fighting a battle that at times seemed only he was capable of fighting. Shane Warne at Ashes 2005 was a man possessed.
England did manage to win the Ashes 2-1, but Warne stole the show (along with Andrew Flintoff, of course). Day after day, innings after innings, it was Warne who tried to stop the English team from winning the Ashes for the first time since 1986/87. It was mesmerizing to see the man at his very best – that every ball he bowled was an event was never truer than it was in this series.
Shane Warne ended 2006 with a staggering 96 wickets – the highest number ever in a calendar year. The record still stands.
The closest anyone got to this record was Muttiah Muralitharan, a man who Warne competed with all throughout his career in the quest of being the greatest spinner of all time.
Muralitharan vs Warne: A Rivalry That’ll Never be Repeated
In terms of sheer numbers, Muralitharan sits comfortably in front of Warne, with 800 test wickets and 534 ODI wickets compared to 708 and 293 of Warne. Comparing them in One Day Internationals will be a bit unfair since Warne played a lot fewer ODIs due to injuries and his somewhat unlucky ban in 2003 (apparently, his mum told him to take meds to lose weight, and the ban on the diuretic drug was removed a few years later because it didn’t have any impact on a player’s performance). However, if we compare Warne and Murali in tests, we find some interesting stats.
Muralitharan vs Warne: Away from Home
Muralitharan had an incredible career average of 22.73, slightly better than the 25.42 of Warne’s. However, Murali played a significant amount of cricket at his home in Sri Lanka, and also in the subcontinent, where the pitches were traditionally spin-friendly. On the contrary, Warne played the majority of his tests in Australia and England, and didn’t play a lot in the subcontinent.
If we take only away matches into consideration, the table turns. Muralitharan still boasts an impressive average of 27.80, with 307 wickets away from home. However, Warne betters him in both aspects, with an average of 24.61 and 389 wickets outside Australia. A significant reason behind this was Murali’s horrific record in Australia (an average of 75.42). Warne, on the other hand, did really well in Sri Lanka with an average of 20.46. Warne’s average away from home was in fact better than his average at home, which goes to show how incredibly adaptive his skillset was.
Muralitharan vs Warne: Against Strong Opponents
Completely disregarding home matches might seem a bit unfair. However, if we compare who performed better against the strongest opponents, we find some interesting insights as well. For this analysis, we’ve taken West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh off the consideration due to their lack of strength in tests. We’ve only taken Warne and Murali’s performances against the top 7 sides.
Here, the difference in average becomes extremely close. Murali has taken 542 wickets against the teams in the top 7, with an average of 25.67. Warne betters Murali in both aspects once more, 620 wickets against the top 7, and an average slightly better than Murali’s with 25.06.
It’s slightly unfair to call any of these geniuses the outright better spinner, at least in test cricket. However, we can definitely say that despite Warne having 92 fewer wickets than Muralitharan, the case for Warne being the greatest test spinner ever won’t be a weak one.
The Legacy of Shane Warne
“Leg spin was a dying art before Shane Warne burst onto the scene. We had never heard of a delivery called ‘The Flipper’, and then he used to set us up with it.”
-Nasser Hussain, former England captain
It’s not easy for a player to not only revitalize a degrading part of a sport, but also make it one of the most popular spectacles of it. The result is evident for everyone to see. Arguably the best spinner in the world at the moment is Rashid Khan, a leg-spinner from Afghanistan. Yes, that’s what Warne transformed a dying art into.
I personally have received the news of the death of a lot of celebrities. But this one hit different. Not because of Warne’s incredible achievements in the game. It’s because he had so much more to give yet. He never stopped being a genius of the game. After his retirement from international cricket in 2007, he dragged an underdog Rajasthan Royals side to victory in the first IPL campaign. He played in the Big Bash, talking through the microphone about exactly how he’ll get Brendan Mcculam bowled before he actually went on to do it.
Even off the field, his knowledge of the game was evident. He was one of the smartest commentators in the business – certainly one of my favourite ones. He regularly engaged in conversations with any youngster looking for help or advice. He had a lot more to say about cricket with explosive passion that he can’t say anymore. That’s what makes his departure too sudden, too surreal.
Sledging in the harshest manner. Constantly in controversies. Gulping down beer and smoking incessantly. Shane Warne lived a reckless life, that’s for sure. On and off the field, he always took risks. However, I’m here only to remember the Shane Warne who conquered the world with his chubby enormous fingers that made the ball spin however he pleased. Throwing the ball from his left hand to right, taking a few steps before releasing the magic ball that nobody knew what to expect of – Shane Keith Warne was the King of Spin, the one who will forever be unique in every sense of the word.
