Shane Warne the bad boy image is the second and final chapter about the greatest spinner.
Before you proceed, the part one of Shane Warne the greatest spinner can be read here.
Hold over some nations
Warne had absolute hold over the batsmen from South Africa, Pakistan, England and New Zealand. His record against all these nations speaks for themselves. Against the rest it is understandable but Pakistan, who are decent players of spin, found Warne an absolute nightmare. Warne took 90 wickets in 15 tests. This is 6 wickets per test. He does not have this sort of a record against any other nation. Just what made Warne so devastating against Pakistan is not clear. Perhaps that Basit Ali dismissal have played in the minds of the Pakistani batsmen of that era.
Captain Shane
It was really unfortunate that one of the greatest minds in the game, never had the opportunity to lead his team in test cricket. Warne did captain the Australia team albeit in ODI where he showcased his abilities as a thinking captain. His record of 10 wins in 11 games speaks for itself. It was really a shame that his off the field antics cost him dearly. He was never considered for Australian captaincy. It is something that will certainly rankle him for the rest of his life. His showed his skills in the inaugural edition of the IPL. His team, Rajasthan Royals was the least fancied of all the teams. They weren’t expected to reach the playoffs. However, not only did they reach the playoffs, they went onto the finals and won the tournament itself. It was all down to Warne’s man management skills alongwith his on-field tactical awareness.
Off-field shenanigans
Despite such a stellar career, Warne too had his shortcomings. The legendary Warne image was built not just on his on-field exploits but also based on his off the field actions that made for famous tabloid headlines. He was a much loved figure for the Australian press for he has often given them loads of material to write about. The infamous hotel room liaison with some ladies, his extra-marital affairs, the pill controversy just before the 2007 World Cup and blaming it on his mother which did not go down well with the public and the information for money controversy. All of these made Warne a complete package for the press.
Outspoken individual
Warne has always been an outspoken person. He does not mince words. He calls it as he sees it. Warne’s lack of cohesiveness with Buchanan is very well known. I have written about that below. He also had an uneasy relationship with Steve Waugh. He has criticised Waugh quite often. Warne termed Waugh the most selfish cricketer whose only ambition was to average above 50 in tests. Relationship between Warne and Waugh began to sour after the infamous test in the West Indies where Warne was dropped, probably for the only time in his career, for performance. From then on, there wasn’t any love lost between them.
“Disappointed is not a strong enough word. When the crunch came Tugga didn’t support me, and I felt so totally let down by someone who I had supported big time and was also a good friend,” Warne wrote in his autobiography, The Spin.
A few years later, he criticised Mitchell Starc for being too soft. As expected Starc did not take kindly to that comment.
He even criticised Labuschagne’s batting antics. As expected his comments did not go down well.
More recently, Warne was at his relentless best during the Australian series against India. He criticised all the Australian bowlers and Paine for poor tactics. It was more of a personal attack. I will not be shocked if the rapport between the current Australian players and Warne have deteriorated beyond repair.
Warne and Buchanan
Warne never liked the Australian coach of that era, John Buchanan. For that matter, he always felt that a coach must be someone who has played at the highest level for a decent amount of time and John Buchanan never had that credential on his profile. Warne and Buchanan was diametrically opposite of each other. Warne, by the time Buchanan was appointed, was already an international star. Buchanan, by contrast, was a university lecturer with only 7 first class games. The dice was cast and obviously, it is difficult for any international player, leave alone the fact someone as extraordinarily gifted as Warne, to be able to adjust with a coach who was an academic.
Fitness and data analysis were central to Buchanan’s coaching methods. Whereas, for Warne, he prefer to needle the batsman and enjoy a nice laugh and immerse himself in a cold one.
For Buchanan, cricket is much more than batting, bowling and fielding. He encouraged the players to recite poetry and can often be seen arranging for a pre-tour bootcamp. The bootcamp had nothing to do with cricket. The Australians used to run around carrying water cans, hiking, pushing cars. These are activities that a heavyweight wrestler will be proud of. He also wanted the players to practise throwing with both the arms and he sort of wanted to produce ambidextrous players.
Warne explodes
Warne never had any time for fitness. He was clearly frustrated with Buchanan. Warne once told Buchanan “These boot camps are a big waste of time… after a bit I just turned to the coach and said: ‘I’m weak as piss, I hate your guts and I want to go home. You’re a dickhead’.”
Warne will have none of Buchanan’s shenanigans. He clearly felt that cricket is a simple game and Buchanan was over complicating things. I do not think Warne really understood Buchanan’s methods because of the enormous amount of talent that he had. For Warne, everything came naturally. He was always able to control the flow of the game. He made the batsmen dance to his tune. Such was his brilliance. On the otherhand, there were Australians like Ponting, Steve Waugh and the rest who absolutely vouched for Buchanan.
Michael Hussey, for instance, had an interesting take on the Warne – Buchanan relationship.
“I think the way John spoke to and treated and tried to motivate Shane was genius. He almost tried to get into an argument with him or challenge him with things that were a little bit leftfield. So Shane would say, ‘John, you’re dribbling rubbish. I’ll show you how to do it’, and he’d go out there and do it. In my mind that’s absolutely genius coaching.”
In other words, Hussey states that it was Buchanan who made Warne realise this enormous talent.
Other topics related to Australia can be read here, here and here.