I’m genuinely gutted about this, the absolute goat!!!!
He really did make spin cool but I don’t believe that does him justice, he had such an amazing cricket brain. We all wonder at the balls that took the wicket but It was always the way he set his plans and set the batsman up. It’s one thing to come up with the plan but a whole other thing to execute and he did time and time again. Had the absolute privilege to see the first day of the 5th test at the Oval in 2005, when he came onto bowl the ground just went weirdly still and silent, all in anticipation of what he was going to do. Pure theatre and drama and I’m grateful that I got to witness him live.
RIP Shane Warne, the like of which I don’t think we will see again
Generally speaking, when a celebrity or sports star passes away, you sort of feel a bit sad, a tradegy etc. I have been absolutely floored since reading the notification on my phone this morning. Frankly I am having trouble believing it true. The passing of Rod Marsh, whilst very sad, had a sense of inevitability when news of his heart attack emerged. Warney's death has absolutely stunned me. 52 is so very young, despite the life he lived. What a legend! Vale S K Warne.
The Southern Stand at the MCG will be renamed as the S K Warne Stand following upcoming renovations. A fitting tribute to a loved Victorian and Australian.
Not usually one for lingering on celebrity deaths but still shocked about this one. Reading Michael Vaughans tribute you can tell how stunned he is.
I keep reading how Warne was the greatest leg spinner, the greatest spinner, how about the greatest bowler of all time?
Sure if you look at the averages, people like McGrath and Steyn come out better, and they were masters of a trade that is full of great bowlers, but from my limited knowledge bowling pace is easier than bowling leg spin. Yes there are far more pace bowlers to beat to become the greatest of pace bowlers, but that is because very few people even want to become leg spinners. There is a reason leg spinners are never trusted by captains, especially before Warne came along, they tend to bowl bad balls and get clobbered.
I've tried to bowl leg spin when mucking about in the nets, I've watched my daughter learn it (she naturally bowls out the back of her hand) and we have a 13 year out lad at my club who is a bit of a wizard at it already, and I can tell you it is bloody hard to be remotely consistent. You don't bowl with your arm straight up like a fast bowler, you need flight, loop and you have to get rotation. It is so easy to lose control. Mostly you are landing the ball in a zone the batsman can comfortably hit you for four if you get it wrong.
Warne had mastered not only leg spin control and accuracy, but he had a number of different deliveries the left most batsmen with no idea what was happening. I saw world class batsmen look like club players on decent batting strips against him. Give Glen McGarth a new ball and he could tease and confuse batsmen with accuracy and subtle movement. Warne just needed a ball. New, old, cloud, sun. It was all him. Put him on a road and he could take wickets others couldn't.
Muralitharan? Played more matches on spin wickets against weaker teams.
As far as I'm concerned Warne was the greatest to ever send a delivery down the other end. Nearly all teams have a leg spinner now, that is his legacy.
The documentary of Warne on Prime is well worth watching - some good insights into the man.
I watched him play for Hampshire and the effect that he had on other players was immense. He galvanised the team, made them believe in themselves and also no doubt the rest of the team wanted to impress him so played their best. There were probably some games that Hampshire won, when they shouldn’t have, due to his influence.
There are some brilliant obituaries to him in the press today. One in particular in ,The Mail' written by Martin Samuel, who talks about that 'greatest ball ever bowled in test cricket' to Mike Gatting at Old Traffird in the 1993 Ashes series. We all know the one, but I bet few of us, recall what happened afterwards, as Gatting trudged off on the long walk back to the pavilion. Utterly baffled and bemused at his dismissal, Mike Gatting, unstrapped his helmet and looked back at the pitch 4 times before he reached the boundary ropes
Simply the best. I can't recall ever being so upset at the passing of a non West Ham sportsman.
Mike Atherton wrote a lovely piece in todays Times, and Twitter has been awash with former players -many of whom would not look out of place being described as being geniuses, singing his praises.
Warne was THE stand out cricketer in a team packed with stand out cricketers.
Goes to show how well liked he was when every England cricket fan I've spoke to over the weekend is absolutely choked and had nothing but admiration for the bloke. Don't mind admitting I shed a few tears on Friday.
Will never forget that sinking feeling as the likes of Ponting chucked him the ball for the first time in a test match as you knew what was usually to come.
Best bowler of all time over Murali? He was for me. To take as many wickets on Australian pitches says it all.
pablo jaye wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 2:43 pm
The documentary of Warne on Prime is well worth watching - some good insights into the man.
I watched him play for Hampshire and the effect that he had on other players was immense. He galvanised the team, made them believe in themselves and also no doubt the rest of the team wanted to impress him so played their best. There were probably some games that Hampshire won, when they shouldn’t have, due to his influence.
Just watched it and it was very poignant being so recently made. Felt desperate for his kids who seemed very nice, grounded young people. I was surprised to see him refer to the ‘Gatting ball’ as a fluke, but I suppose that sums him up. For some one so brash he never came across as arrogant.
I'm late to this, but I'll echo the sentiments of others that terms like "legend" and "genius" are not out of place for Shane Warne.
Spin bowling is such a fine art, and leg spin is an even finer one, but Warney made it look easy, and would bamboozle even the best batsmen time and time again. He was leading wicket taker in the 2005 Ashes series by some distance, for instance.
In the world of professional sport, each game has but a few once-in-a-generation type players. Shane Warne was one such type player, and one we will probably never see the like of again.
Proper gutted about this, one of my favourite sports people.
He was a genius, but his will to win, all be it took him past the lime at times I always admired him for. He also at times took a decent Australian side to a great side, he was that good.
He was a rock star and and made cricket cool"ish", a true legend of the game. Would have loved to have gone and had a night out on the beer with him, just a cool, fun dude.
When people talk about football the name Pele is always the most iconic. Shane Warne was the Pele of cricket. An absolute giant of sport like no cricketer has ever been imo. I can’t believe it’s been a year. Hope you’re still living your best life wherever you are Shane
