Many probably think Shane Warne relished every moment of the Hollywood life he lived.
Just about everywhere the Australian cricket legend went, he attracted flashing cameras, signatures and selfies, headlines, speculation and catch-cries.
But another former leg-spinner of Australian cricket – dear friend and commentary colleague Kerry O’Keeffe – says the blinding and relentless spotlight didn’t always sit well with Warne.
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“It was not easy to live in his world,” O’Keefe said on Fox Cricket.
“It was like a birdcage where he seemed trapped to a certain extent.
“If you got in a cab with him, suddenly the cab had 10 people looking for a selfie trying to hold up the cab, going, ‘Warney, you legend’.”
Warne had a rockstar following from the moment a chubby blonde – who loved a meat pie, a drink, a smoke and the many other leisures that came with his full-throttle life – took his first big bag of wickets on the Test scene.
In the Boxing Day Test of 1992, against what was then a mighty West Indies side, Warne hauled in 7-52 in the fourth innings to lift Australia to a 139-run win.
The bright lights followed him through to and beyond his tragic death in the early hours of Saturday (AEDT), after he suffered a suspected heart attack in a Thailand villa.
“He accepted that life, which was life under the microscope 24 hours a day,” O’Keeffe said.
“I love anonymity. Sometimes, he preferred anonymity, but he didn’t get it much, did he? Because every time he walked into the room, the room stopped because of SK.”
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