Shane Warne

Shane Warne

Warne in 2015

Source: [1], 20 April 2006

Shane Keith Warne (born September 13, 1969 in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia), is an Australian cricketer and captain of Hampshire. He is one of the greatest leg spin bowlers in history — many say the greatest.

In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Since October 2004, he has held the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, and in August 2005, he became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets. Many feel it is unsuitable to give Warne any awards as he has used banned substances to improve his performance and therefore should be scrapped off any record books. He has been plagued by scandals off the field throughout his playing career.

Career

Warne made his first-class cricket debut in 1990-91, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. With Australia searching for a leg spin bowler for its Test team, Warne was selected in the Australia B team which toured Zimbabwe in September 1991. His best performance was 7/52 in a four-day match. Back home, he took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A against the West Indies in December 1991, and was rushed into the team for the Third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground a week later.

He had an undistinguished Test debut, taking 1/150 (Ravi Shastri caught by Dean Jones for 206) off 45 overs, and recording figures of 1/228 in his first Test series. His poor return continued in the first innings against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the next year, in which he recorded 0/107. However, a spell of 3/11 in the second innings contributed to a remarkable Australian win and arguably saved his Test career.

Despite the inauspicious start to his Test career, he has since revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which many cricket fans had regarded as a dying art. For all his wickets and off-pitch (and on pitch) controversies, Warne's place in cricketing posterity was assured by the fact that cricket had been dominated by fast bowling for about two decades before his debut. Despite the presence of high quality spin bowlers such as Abdul Qadir, Australia with Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson had dominated cricket in the early 1970s and, from 1976 until the early 1990s, the West Indies had lost only one (ill-tempered and controversial) Test series with a bowling attack almost exclusively comprising fast bowlers. In the early 1990s, with the West Indies on the wane, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan were assuming the mantle of the world's most feared bowlers. It was in that context that Warne's tormenting of batsmen became so significant, rather than his actual statistics. His humiliation of Gatting and subsequent hold on particularly English and South African batsmen provided a welcome sight for cricket watchers weary of the relentless intimidation of West Indian bowlers of the 1990s.

Warne combined the ability to turn the ball prodigiously, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a wide variation of deliveries (notably including the flipper).

Many of his most spectacular performances have occurred in Ashes series against England, whose players' inexperience against leg spin bowling made them particularly vulnerable. However, with feats like the famous "Gatting Ball" or "Ball of the Century" which spun sharply and bowled a bemused Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series, most of the credit is Warne's. Conversely, he has struggled against India: his bowling average against them is a poor 47.18, compared with less than 31 against every other country.

Warne has been highly effective bowling in one-day cricket, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. He also captained Australia on several occasions in one-day internationals, winning ten matches and losing only one. Warne had intended to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the 2003 World Cup, as it transpired, his last game for Australia was in January 2003. However he did appear for the ICC World XI for the Tsunami benefit match in 2005.

In March 2004, he became the second cricketer, after Courtney Walsh of the West Indies, to take 500 Test wickets. He broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket on October 15 2004 during the Second Test against India at Chennai, overtaking his great spin bowling rival, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. (As both Warne and Muralitharan are still playing, the record may change hands again, though Muralitharan has said he has no interest in regaining it). On 11 August 2005 at Old Trafford, in the Third Ashes Test, he became the first bowler in history to take 600 Test wickets. In 2005, he also broke the record for the number of wickets in a calendar year, with 96 wickets. Warne's ferocious competitiveness was a feature of the now legendary 2005 Ashes series. Warne took 40 wickets at an average of 19.92 in the series and scored 249 runs prompting some to comment that he could now make a justifiable claim to being a great bowler. Together with Brett Lee, he was one Australian whose reputation was enhanced with every match.

Warne is also noted for his exuberant (and sometimes effective) lower-order batting, once famously being dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot when a Test century beckoned, on what was later shown to be a no ball. In fact, Warne has scored the most Test runs without having scored a century, with another score in the 90s. In 2006 Warne and Glenn McGrath reportedly lost a bet of which bowler would be the first to get a Test century with fellow Australian bowler Jason Gillespie after Gillespie scored a record double century as a night-watchman against Bangladesh. Warne is also a useful slip fielder.

Controversies

Despite nearly universal recognition of Warne's talents, his reputation with fans and cricket authorities is mixed, owing to a succession of intemperate actions in both his professional and his private life.

Bookmakers

In 1998, Warne was forced to admit that he had taken money to provide pitch and weather reports from a man later discovered to be operating with bookmakers. While such an offence was trivial compared to those of players such as Hansie Cronje and Salim Malik who took money to throw matches, the extreme naïveté Warne displayed struck many observers as somewhat dubious.

Positive drugs test

In February 2003, just prior to the start of the 2003 cricket World Cup, Warne was sent home after a drugs test during the one-day series in Australia earlier in the year returned a positive result for a banned diuretic.

In a public relations blitz, Warne initially claimed that he took only one of what he called a "fluid tablet" – the prescription drug Moduretic – on his mother's suggestion, in an attempt to improve his appearance. This justification was believable, as Warne has battled weight problems throughout his career. Warne claimed ignorance of the banned nature of the tablet he took, as well as much of the drug policy of the Australian Cricket Board (despite extensive briefings on the matter in the past). It should however be noted that this drug is a known masking agent for anabolic steroids, and many accused Warne of using the banned substances to recover from a shoulder injury which had side-lined him at the time.

Charged with using "a prohibited method to enhance performance", Warne faced a two-year ban from cricket if found guilty. Considerable pressure was placed on the panel considering his case by Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, who in comments described by the head of the Australian Sports Drug Agency as "highly inappropriate", poured scorn on Warne's excuse and stated that Australian sport was well-known for accusing others for cheating but was considerably less enthusiastic about prosecuting its own. Pound's comments were however at least partly endorsed by sportspeople such as former Olympic swimming champion Kieren Perkins, who expressed concern that a lenient verdict would make a mockery of Australia's stand against drugs in sport.

In the end, the panel found Warne guilty of breaching the ACB's drug code, and imposed a one-year ban. It was further revealed, and confirmed by Warne in a subsequent television interview, that he had actually taken two of the pills. Warne's testimony, and that of his mother, was described by the panel as "vague and inconsistent". The panel decided against imposing the full two-year ban because the drug would have had no performance-enhancing effect, there was no evidence that Warne used the diuretic to mask steroid use, and medical opinion stated that steroids would not have enhanced Warne's recovery from a shoulder injury he had suffered several weeks earlier, or assisted his game in any case. A disappointed Warne initially considered appealing, but decided against it, as several people, including Pound, pointed out that the penalty could have been increased if an appeal was made.

During his suspension, he considered working for the St Kilda Saints Australian rules football club as an assistant coach, before the Australian Football League told the club that it would be inappropriate to have somebody suspended for a drug offence advising its players. He also received invitations to play in various celebrity "park cricket" teams, and the newly renamed Cricket Australia reversed its decision on whether Warne, as a contracted player, should be allowed to play in such matches. He also became a TV commentator for Channel 9 in Australia during this time.

Personal life

Warne is married but presently separated from Simone, and the couple have three children

Marital infidelities

Warne's private life has suffered from scandals and subjected to scrutiny by British tabloid newspapers. He came under criticism for text messaging a woman whilst on tour in South Africa, accused of sending lewd and harassing messages. However the woman, Helen Cohen Alon, who made the claims was subsequently charged with extortion in her own country.

Further allegations of Warne having extra-marital affairs broke in 2005 as Australia began its tour of England in preparation for The Ashes. On June 25, 2005, Warne and his wife Simone announced that they had decided to separate.

On May 7, 2006, the News of the World tabloid newspaper published pictures of Warne standing in his underpants with a pair of 25-year-old models, as well as explicit text messages allegedly from Warne.

Endorsements and Off-field fees

Warne's off-field indiscretions cost him various corporate endorsements and offers. On July 13, 2005, Australia's Nine Network announced it would not renew Warne's commentating contract, worth around AUS$300,000 annually. Warne had previously been seen as a future member of the Nine cricket commentary team, and had done commentary work during his one-year ban from cricket in 2003.

Warne has had much negative media publicity due to his affairs. He has often been the subject of parodies and jokes and has even had a song written about his exploits; Horny Warnie by Horny Warnie & the Whites, which received some airplay in Australia, as well as The Shane Warne Song, by Kevin Bloody Wilson

Cars

Warne has indulged his passion for cars. He has owned two Ferrari's, a 355 Spider in 1996, and in 2001 bought a 360 Spider in titanium, with red interior. At the time he had six cars - the Ferrari, two Mercedes four-wheel drives, two BMWs and a Holden VK Commodore. However, after his separation he sold his collection, and now owns a BMW X5 in Australia, and rents a Mercedes E55 AMG in England [2]

Recognition

• He was chosen as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1994.
• In 2000, Warne was named by a 100-member panel of experts as the fourth of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Warne received 27 votes, behind Sir Donald Bradman (100 votes), Sir Garfield Sobers (90 votes), and Sir Jack Hobbs (30 votes). Sir Viv Richards took the fifth place, with 25 votes. Also is the only Wisden Cricketer of the Century who has not been knighted.
• He is one of two Australian cricketers currently playing the game to have been named in "Richie Benaud's Greatest XI" in 2004 (Adam Gilchrist was the other).
• In 2005 he was named as winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality for his performance in the 2005 Ashes.
• In 2006 he was named Australian Test player of the Year.
• Appeared on the 6th & 7th July episode of the popular Australian soap Neighbours.

Sledging incidents

Sledging means the often rough exchange of words between batsmen and bowler. One prominent example is when South African batsman Daryll Cullinan was on his way to the wicket, Warne told him he had been waiting 2 years for another chance to humiliate him. "Looks like you spent it eating," Cullinan retorted. Warne then promptly dismissed the South African with a well executed flipper.

Test Wicket Milestones

• 1st: Ravi Shastri (India)
• 50th: Nasser Hussain (England)
• 100th: Brian McMillan (South Africa)
• 150th: Alec Stewart (England)
• 200th: Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka)
• 250th: Alec Stewart (England)
• 300th: Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
• 350th: Hrishikesh Kanitkar (India)
• 400th: Alec Stewart (England)
• 450th: Ashwell Prince (South Africa)
• 500th. Hashan Tillakaratne (Sri Lanka)
• 550th: James Franklin (New Zealand)
• 600th: Marcus Trescothick (England)
• 650th: Ashwell Prince (South Africa)

External links

• Cricket-Online player profile - Shane Warne
• Shane Warne at ESPNcricinfo
• Cricinfo Stats Guru: List of Test wickets for Shane Warne
• Cricket Australia media release congratulating Warne on 500th wicket
• Shane Warne media profile