Obituary: Shane Warne

A tribute to one of crickets greatest; the 'King of Spin'.

Tom Wrath
4th March 2022
Image: Wikimedia Commons
It’s not often as a fan of any sport that a player on the opposing team becomes your favourite, let alone one on the other side of such intense rivalry as England-Australia. Yet with his bleached mullet, eccentric personality, and undeniable ability to catapult stunning deliveries down the legside, there can be no greater tribute to Warne than admitting my idolisation. His death, announced Friday 4th March 2022 at the age of 52, comes not just as a great shock to the cricketing world, but to Australian culture and global sport.

Born in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Warne grew up a multi-sportsman; combining football and cricket before moving to Accrington, East Lancashire where he took 73 wickets at 15.4 runs each in the 1991 season. Although impressed, his lack of batting ability rendered him surplus to requirements, and early 1991 saw him transition back to familiar conditions in Melbourne, making his first-class debut in February 1991 for Victoria.

Little over a year later and having made just seven first-class appearances, Warne made his first appearance in the green and gold he would go on to become intrinsically linked with, joining the Australian national side at the Sidney Cricket Ground for a test against India; before series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka saw him hit the honours board with sensational figures of 7/52.

A mark of potential, 1993 saw Warne undertake his first Ashes tour, returning to England with greater fanfare than he left (just ask Mike Gatting). It was to the experienced batsman that a fresh faced 23-year-old delivered his world-renowned ‘Ball of the Century’, nonchalantly strutting down the crease and pitching a ball wide on the off-side that beautifully swung in, stunning both Gatting and a good quantity of the England support.

If Warne had given us this moment alone and then retired, that would have been enough to warrant his legend status, yet this was utilised as a springboard to propel himself forward, taking a career best 8/71 and hat-trick in the return series (1994/95) before destroying Pakistan with eleven wickets across the first test of the 1995/96 season. By 1998, Warne’s prodigious talent had blossomed into cricketing greatness, surpassing the 300-test wicket (which remarkably formed less than half of his 708) threshold at just 28 years old.

Perhaps more remarkable is the fact that between 2001-2004 Warne was rocked by both persistent minor injuries and a year-long doping ban. During these controversial and high-profile absences, he dabbled in the TV commentary and charity matches which became second nature following his 2007 retirement.

Subject to much speculation, one could have forgiven Warne for returning half the player he previously was, yet the three years between 2004-2007 arguably gave us his Golden era; characterised by the resurgence in his rivalries with Sachin Tendulkar and Kevin Pieterson and supported in a three pronged bowling attack by Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee. Backed up by Adam Gilchrist behind the stumps, the legendary 2005 Ashes series added 40 wickets to his tally, making him the all-time leading wicket taker in England-Australia history despite the Aussies’ incapability to retain the urn.

By the 2006/07 series, an aging Warne had announced his retirement and began a spiritual goodbye to cricket with his final, and world-best 708th test wicket in the penultimate match at the SCG. Stints in Twenty20 with Rajasthan Royals and Melbourne Stars were the caveat of retirement, footnotes to a glittering international career before a final appearance in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord’s. How apt that the King of Spin finished his career at the cathedralic home of cricket.

Warne was a controversial, unruly, and occasionally salacious party animal, culturally famed for an attitude and lifestyle wilder than his dance atop the Trent Bridge balcony in 1997. Yet in moments like this, he rejuvenated cricket and rebirthed the art of spin bowling, inspiring the transition of the sport away from its older, upper-class demographic toward younger, culturally engaged audiences. Whilst not a direct influence, one could barely doubt that Warne’s involvement in the birth of the limited overs franchise gave it a cultural significance, and financially re-energized cricket.

For someone who grew up watching compilations of his wicket taking with my cricketing sister, Warne’s death has come as a huge shock; although my words pale in significance when compared with the countless tributes from his successors and colleagues. However, I want to leave the final word with the man himself, a simple quote which summarises exactly why he is beloved the world over.

“To me, cricket is a simple game…just go out and play”

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