It was the moment where Shane Warne finally felt he belonged on the international stage, the first of many times where his bowling was pivotal to an Australian Test victory.
The Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo is about as far removed from the MCG as you can possibly imagine, but in August 1992 it was the scene of Warne’s breakthrough performance as an Australian cricketer.
It was Warne’s third Test, and it’s fair to say his career up to that point had been less than flattering. Having taken 1-150 on debut in Sydney against India, he followed that up with 0-18 and 0-60 in Adelaide.
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The first innings in Colombo had been similarly disappointing, 0-107, leaving the 23-year-old with the miserable Test figures of one wicket for 335.
As he wrote in his book, My Spin, he was “totally disheartened” thinking that “maybe cricket isn’t my go.”
Sri Lanka held the upper hand on the fourth night, with Australia 7-393 in the second innings, a paltry lead of 102.
Greg Matthews was still at the crease, unbeaten on 51, but the all-rounder knew his most important contribution would come the following day with the ball, along with the rookie leg-spinner.
“I remember it vividly,” Matthews told Wide World of Sports.
“I suggested to Shane that we go out for a meal, I remember telling him that we could win the match the next day.
“He had a ham and pineapple pizza at the Hilton Hotel, then we kicked on to a discothèque and had a dance, he was drinking Midori and Lemonade, and we had a pretty good night together.
“He just needed to relax and unwind and take his mind off what was going to happen the following day.
“It’s actually how I gave him his nickname, Suicide. We were dancing to the INXS song Suicide Blonde, and he had the peroxide blonde hair. I just thought that was appropriate. I’ll remember that moment for a long time.”
The Australian tail wagged on the fifth morning, including a vital 35 from Warne, leaving Sri Lanka with 181 to win, a target that seemed a formality at 0-76.
But the Australian bowlers, led by Matthews, chipped away at the Sri Lankan batting order, when captain Allan Border threw the ball to Warne, who had bowled one over earlier in the innings, which cost 11 runs.
“I recall thinking, ‘Geez, that’s a gutsy move,” wrote wicketkeeper Ian Healy in his autobiography.
Warne himself was panicked.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, you can’t be serious,” was his reaction, according to No Spin.
“This could be done and dusted in a couple of overs, AB. You can’t do this to me, not now, not with so much at stake.
“I could cost us the match.”
Matthews, however, had full confidence in Warne, who proceeded to take the last three wickets without conceding a run, as Australia pulled off a famous victory by 16 runs.
“I just kept saying to AB, ‘You’ve got to bowl the kid. You’ve got to bowl him when there’s a few runs on the board to take the pressure off’,” Matthews said.
“Asanka Gurusinha was still at the crease, he was batting well, but I don’t think it’s unfair or inaccurate to say their tail wasn’t the strongest in world cricket.
“Warney came on, threw the ball up, lots of encouragement from everyone, and got the job done.”
Matthews, who was named man of the match, took the final catch off Warne’s bowling.
“I’ve still got the ball actually. The beginning of a legend,” he said.
Part of the reason Matthews believed in Warne came from a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG in November 1991, two months before the leg-spinner made his Test debut.
A full strength New South Wales side played Victoria, with no fewer than 15 current or future Test players in action.
“I got a few in that match,” Matthews recalled, somewhat modestly, given he top scored for NSW with 139.
“I did the press conference afterwards, where I was asked what I thought of this guy called Shane Warne, who’d taken 0-76, and I said, ‘I reckon he’ll get 300 Test wickets’.
“The media asked me why I said that, and I remember talking about Bob Holland, who took two 10-fors in Test cricket, and a five-for at Lord’s, which Shane never did, and Dutchy was a really high quality bowler, but he didn’t have the zip and the flipper that Shane had.
“We all love a good leggie. But I was wrong, I was short by 408 wickets!”
Warne’s death came on the same day that Australian cricket lost wicket-keeper Rod Marsh, continuing a horror period for the game.
“I got a phone call at 1am from a mate in London, and I thought it was fake news, it couldn’t be real,” Matthews explained.
“We’re all just in shock. We all feel for his family, gosh, it’s brutal. Everyone has taken it so hard, it’s the shock.
“On top of losing Rod Marsh, Alan Davidson, Ashley Mallett, and on a personal level my mum, it’s been a tough few months.
“Just when you feel like you’re getting up again, you get knocked down.”
Another former Australian captain, Mark Taylor, said that day in Colombo was a turning point not only for Warne, but skipper Allan Border.
“Yes it lifted Warnie’s confidence greatly, but I think it also changed Allan Border, and the way he captained,” Taylor told Wide World of Sports.
“Allan could see the potential in Warnie, but as a spinner you don’t have that intimidation factor.
“Greg bowled a lot more overs than Warnie on that day, but I think AB finally thought that he had to see if Warnie had it or not.
“And he did. He got the final three wickets, and I think that gave both Warnie and AB a lot of confidence going forward.”
According to Warne, Border called it ‘The greatest heist since the Great Train Robbery’ as Sri Lanka capitulated, losing 8-37 at the end.
“If it had been on TV in Australia it would be remembered as one of the great Test matches,” Warne wrote.
“I contributed to the win and sensed the relief. It’s hard to explain exactly how good it was to feel I belonged; or if not quite belonged, that I didn’t let anyone down.”
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