Warne reminiscences about the past

The year 2018. Shane Warne reminiscences about the past. It was 25 years in 2018 since the Gatting ball. His thinks about how he felt during that day. First day of an Ashes Test, his very first Ashes series, he wondered whether he will bowl a long hop first ball or drop a catch or score a duck. However, what transpired as the stuff of legends. In 2018, the Australian cricket team got themselves into a terrible mess with the ball tampering scandal. On the personal front, his daughters were off school and his son training to become a model. His mother had alzheimer’s and father was by his side. His dream of playing as the Masters golf course in Augusta was accomplished. He ticked that box. Warney then goes onto describe his golf sessions at Augusta where he scored a hole-in-one that no one had ever achieved before.

24 March, Cape Town

Warne was shocked and embarrassed by what happened at Cape Town on that day. He felt let down by the incident, especially, when it was revealed that it was a pre-planned move. Some of the Australian players were quite arrogant towards their opponents over the years prior to 24 March. He felt that the Australians had lost their way of playing the game, ie., they do not blame the opponents. Rather, they make their point. The point he tries to make is that the nature of the offence itself because it was pre-meditated. He felt that the punishment was severe when Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander were let off quite easily.

Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were vilified for breaching the spirit of the game. Cricket Australia imposed punishments on them above that of the ICC. The win-at-all-costs mindset is to be blamed for such incidents. Warne felt that Smith made a mistake and not a crime. His punishment would have been to strip Smith and Warner of captaincy and vice-captaincy posts and all the 3 imposed severe fines and banned for the 4th Test.

They must have been allowed to carry on after that. He believed when Darren Lehmann, the coach said that he wasn’t aware of the plan. His message to youngsters is “don’t worry about how many runs you make or how many Tests you play. Do the right thing by cricket and it will do the right thing for you.” Warne is adamant that Australians must play the game the Australian way. Hard and fair because the public wants to see them win but win fairly and by respecting the opposition.

13 May, Jaipur

His final day with Rajasthan Royals. He is all praise for the IPL and believes that the modern day batsman has become more powerful and innovative. Bowlers need to have an aggressive mindset as well and think about how to get a batsman out. He predicts certain players. Jos Buttler must play for England but we have seen how poor he is in Test cricket. Ben Stokes is a quality player and Warne has got that right. Sanju Samson will be the next Indian batting superstar but 5 years down the line, he is nowhere to be seen but Rishabh Pant grabbed the chances with both hands. Jofra Archer, if only he remains fit, will be an excellent bowler.

17 May and 15 July

Warne signed a contract with Fox Sports to cover the cricket. He didn’t want to leave Channel Nine but the offer was to great to miss out. He is also tasked with bringing in new shows surrounding sports. 15 July, he was knocked out of the World Series of Poker Main Event on the second day but ended up at 70 in the Wynn Main Event and collected 10K USD. Poker replaced his life that was suffering from the post retirement syndrome.

There is a revealing statistic that the highest suicide rate of former top level players in any sport are cricketers, mainly because the competition that they were involved in throughout their career, is no longer there. Poker is similar to cricket in the sense that everyone puts in the same money and after that the strategy and mind games take over. The game involves playing the opponent rather than the cards itself. He studied the players who could scratch their noses, look down or around, cough nervously and talk too much or too loud. These are tell-tale signs of a nervous player.

The final chapter

Warne in this final chapter expects that he has looked into himself while writing this book and has written about himself honestly. He admits that he has made mistakes that shaped him. Warne has certainly given an impetus to wrist spin. More and more are wanting to bowl legspin which will always be his legacy. A couple of compliments that he remembered, one, written by Bill O’Reilly in an article in Sydney Morning Herald, “it is fantastic to see leg spin is back. I hope they stick with this guy.”

The other was Keith Miller’s when he walked inside the dressing room and told Warne do not to worry about the tabloids and that he loved what Warne did on the field. Warne also picks the best Australian XI among the players he played with. The surprise was that he had Steve Waugh in it and that rounds up the autobiography.