Genius. Record-breaker. Game-changer. Match-winner. Competitor. Opposition’s worst nightmare. The best captain to never captain. Entertainer. Party animal. Zest for life. Controversy. Unflinching commentator. Lion-hearted love. Legend.
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Shane Warne’s career was like no other – and there’s plenty to reminisce about, as we no doubt will in the coming weeks and months.
But to start off with, here are 10 of his most memorable moments.
Warne announces himself to the world (1992)
After an unremarkable 1-150 on debut against India the previous summer, Warne had shown promise in Sri Lanka before being picked to play on Boxing Day against the West Indies.
He took just a single wicket and made scores of one and five with the bat, until the spell which launched a career in the fourth innings of the match.
With the Windies sitting comfortably at 1-143 chasing 359, Warne dismissed opposing captain Richie Richardson with a now-iconic flipper, setting a collapse in motion.
Warne ended the innings with 7-52 as the Aussies won by 139 runs.
‘The Ball of the Century’ (1993)
The most famous ball in a glittering career, bar none. ‘The Gatting Ball’, ‘The Ball of the Century’, call it what you want, any cricket fan knows it.
With his first ball against England, in his first Ashes Test, Warne turned it a mile, originally pitching it some distance outside Mike Gatting’s leg stump.
Gatting could only stand in shock after realising the ball had spun back across the entirety of his wicket, clipping the bail on his off stump.
The ball represented a renaissance for leg-spin bowling, and put Warne’s name into the stratosphere when it came to cricketers.
The Ashes hat-trick (1994)
Australia were cruising towards victory in the Boxing Day Test in 1994 when Warne, who had been on a hat-trick in the previous Test, went one better.
First with England some 300 runs from victory and down to their tail-enders, he had Phil DeFreitas trapped LBW before getting Darren Gough caught behind the next ball.
Devon Malcolm, not known for his batting, came out for the key delivery. The ball smacked into his pad, and then glove, before a diving David Boon took an absolute screamer.
It was the first hat-trick in an Ashes Test since Hugh Trumble’s 91 years earlier, and a crushing win for Australia.
Tormenting his ‘bunny’ (1990s)
The thing is, Daryll Cullinan was actually a very, very good international cricketer. But, to say his name in Australia evokes only one response: “Oh, you mean Shane Warne’s bunny?”.
Despite a solid Test average of 44.21, Cullinan only averaged 12.15 against the Aussies, with Warne taking his wicket four times, and another eight in ODI cricket.
World Cup heroics (1999)
Everybody remembers the chaotic ending to the 1999 World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa – Lance Klusener looking as though he was going to steer the Proteas to victory, only for a catastrophic run-out to cost them.
But not everyone would recall who the man of the match in that game was – Shane Keith Warne.
South Africa were chasing a modest 214 to win, and the usually economic Glenn McGrath went for more than five an over, as did Tom Moody, while Damien Fleming had 1-40 off his 8.4 overs.
But Warne? He bowled four maidens and finished with 4-29 off 10 overs. Without his stodgy bowling, there wouldn’t have been a mix-up at the end, because South Africa would have already won.
And they weren’t exactly mugs that he dismissed, either. He bowled both openers, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs, while getting opposing captain Hansie Cronje for a duck and the always dangerous Jacques Kallis late on when he was locked in and cruising to a win.
Breaking Lillee’s record (2000)
It wasn’t the most memorable tour in history when Australia travelled across the Tasman for their first overseas venture of the new millennium, but Warne passed a massive milestone when he eclipsed Dennis Lillee to become the country’s leading Test wicket-taker.
The scalp of New Zealand tail-ender Paul Wiseman at Eden Park was number 356 of his career, eclipsing Lillee.
“I’m very honoured to have achieved the record in my time, but I’m just as pleased that a bowler and a bloke as great as Shane Warne has overtaken it,” Lillee said at the time.
The 99 (2001)
Despite everything brilliant Warne did with the ball in hand, he also had a hugely memorable moment with the bat – when he came agonisingly close to scoring a Test century.
Coming to the crease with Australia battling at 6-192, some sparkling shots were on display before he was cruelly caught in the deep by Mark Richardson, off the bowling of Daniel Vettori, on 99.
And had it happened today, he would have been recalled to the crease, with replays showing it was a no-ball from the finger-spinner.
“When I see the replay of me trying to slog it for six I think, ‘You idiot, what were you doing?’,” Warne said on The Howie Games podcast in 2019.
“My mindset wasn’t to play a big mow for six. I was just trying to sweep it along the ground for one. But when I watch the replay I take this almighty swing at it.”
Warne remains the man with the most runs ever in Test cricket without ever reaching triple digits.
The best Ashes series ever? (2005)
Not so much a moment, but an era of dominance never before seen – or perhaps since.
The 2005 Ashes is regarded by many as the best ever, and although England won the urn, Warne played out of his skin for not just that campaign, but the entirety of the year.
He took six wickets in the first Test, 10 in the second, four in the third, eight in the fourth and 12 at The Oval to finish. Warne was wizard-like throughout, turning the ball an absolute mile – including a staggering delivery to Andrew Strauss at Edgbaston that spun nearly halfway across the pitch.
He finished the Ashes with 40 wickets – 16 more than Andrew Flintoff in second, and double that of Brett Lee in third.
By the end of the calendar year Warne had shattered Lillee’s then record for most wickets in a year, with a staggering 96 – 11 more than the legendary quick recorded in 1986. Muttiah Muralitharan claimed 90 scalps in 2006, but nobody has come anywhere close since.
The 700th wicket (2006)
A glorious Test career came to a fitting end the following summer, when Warne wrapped it up in a 5-0 sweep of England in the Ashes.
Never a prouder Victorian you’ll meet, Warne wheeled away in celebration as he shattered Strauss’ stumps for wicket number 700, at the SCG.
He finished that innings with 5-39, as England were rolled for 159.
IPL glory (2008)
Warne spent years as a T20 specialist after retiring from international cricket, and while he never tasted Big Bash glory with the Melbourne Stars, his captaincy and coaching were a huge part of why the Rajasthan Royals claimed the first-ever IPL title.
Warne was far better in the IPL than many would realise, keeping his economy-rate below eight an over, while taking 19 wickets in the campaign.
While it was Shane Watson that was the star of the show, Warne’s captaincy and coaching abilities won praise from teammates and rivals alike.
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