The news of Shane Warne’s death sent shockwaves around the world, and if you were still awake in Australia when it hit, just after 1am AEDT on Saturday, it’s doubtful you went to sleep anytime soon.
The reason this hits so hard isn’t just because of his young age, or his iconic status in Australian history – it’s that for the first time someone who defined millennial culture has been ripped away from us.
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Like Kobe Bryant’s shocking death in America in 2020, this will reverberate for a long time, possibly forever – with a huge chunk of 90s kids who grew up, glued to Channel Nine after school on a summer afternoon, wondering how anyone could be as cool as Shane Warne.
This isn’t to alienate older cricket fans, who will rightfully grieve just as much – but just as they had Thommo and Lillee, or the Chappells, or Richie, or Bob Simpson, we had Warney.
We wanted to bend it like Beckham and dunk like Michael Jordan – but Warne was different. He was ours. He was someone any of us could try to – albeit fail in doing so – emulate in our backyards and on pitches.
We all asked for zinc to wear during our days of junior cricket, and many a ball was bowled onto the roof of the local nets trying to emulate his elegant, wrist-spinning action. Every parent of the 90s probably had to deny a request for bleached-blonde hair at some point.
But the thing is, as much as we wanted to be like Shane Warne – nobody ever could, and nobody ever will.
They say you die a second time when someone says your name for the last time – so it’s unlikely Warne ever will, his legacy carrying on through generations in a way few others could.
The ‘Ball of the Century’. Dancing with the stump over his head at Trent Bridge. The 700th Test wicket – even the 99 with the bat that ended with an ill-advised slog. None of it will ever be forgotten.
But on top of all of it, the hair and the attitude, the effortless swagger and the coolness – he was the best player on the field every time he stepped foot on it. He was the epitome of backing up your words with actions.
There have certainly been better role models, and there’s been plenty of amazing cricketers before and after – but there will never be another like Shane Warne.
He was the definition of a life lived to the fullest.