Shane Warne

Warn (e) ing bells for Shane


Akshay A. Kalbag


The world’s greatest leg–spinner is in a soup. For the umpteenth time in his illustrious career. What’s new, you might ask. Nothing much, except that it has ceased to surprise as well as sicken cricket fans anymore.


Even before Shane Warne called it quits from the shorter version of the game, he’s been through too many ‘test’ing times, in more ways than one. More so off the field!


Warney started his cricketing career in a not too spectacular fashion way back in 1992. But his Ashes debut in 1993 is memorable. He not only bowled the ‘greatest ball of the century’ in Test cricket, but he was also responsible for generating a renewed interest in the dying art of leg–spin bowling. That delivery, apart from ‘Gatting’ (sorry, getting) him fame and recognition, introduced to the world the blond leggie with a bagful of tricks who would be a force to reckon with over the next decade.


But the next decade or so would also witness a tumultuous love–hate relationship between the Australian cricketer and the media, especially the English press, which would also quickly spread to all parts of the Test world.


His marriage to Simone lasted ten years and he had three lovely kids, Brooke, Jackson and Summer, but that did not stop Warney from looking outside his native Victoria for greener pastures (no, I am not talking about green cricket pitches) to mix business with pleasure.


His legendary off–field sexcapades are now as much a part of the leggie’s legacy (?) as his flippers, googlies and leg–breaks. His wrong ‘uns off the cricket field made him a popular figure in certain sections of the press in cricket–playing countries.


Simone and the cricketer recently announced their decision to go their separate ways after a decade of togetherness–and some very embarrassing and difficult circumstances, one must add.


The man with the maximum number of wickets to his name in Test cricket is today himself on a sticky wicket as far as his personal life goes. He has now turned his attention to his own thinning scalp. But neither his decision to regrow his hair nor his future as a cricketer are the focus of this article.


Over the years, he has admitted to taking bribes from a bookmaker in the Indian sub–continent in exchange for information about pitch and weather conditions, assaulted a photographer who shot a picture of his with a cigarette in his hand (when he had promised to quit his smoking habit), been sued by a man who claimed the Aussie star had tried to kiss his niece, etc. But his glittering career reached an all–time low phase when he faced some ‘texting’ times (excuse the pun!) with a number of women, including some British nurses, accusing him of sending them lewd text messages from his mobile phone, besides doing some other unmentionable acts with them during his numerous cricket tours and his county stint with Hampshire. SMS (Sex Maniac Shane) is a champion both on and off the field.


What takes the cake, though, is that Warne was the first cricketer to miss an international season due to a drug ban after the International Cricket Council (ICC) brought out a revised code of conduct. He began serving his twelve–month ban in February 2003, during the World Cup in South Africa, and returned to the Australian team in 2004.


His experiences and his subsequent split from his wife Simone have rung the warn (e) ing bells loud and clear for not only himself, but also for other cricketers who think there’s more to cricket than just performing well with the bat and ball. After all, he had fallen out of favour with Australian selectors too (a few years ago, his sexploits had cost him the post of the Australian vice–captain as well.)