RIP Warney
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A lengthy but good CricInfo read: Facing Warne: the magic, the theatre, and the whole shebang
Dravid, Lara, Jayawardene, Younis, Tendulkar and Kirsten recall the time they had to pit their skills against the greatest legspinner of all timePart of Dravid's comments:
One of the things that always stood out playing against Warnie was that it felt like he was always setting you up for something, like a cat-and-mouse game was always on. Just when you felt, 'I am going to go inside out,' he would bowl the flipper. Or the moment you thought he's tied me down and maybe I need to play the sweep or use my feet, he would bowl just the ball that would make that particular shot risky. Like he almost knew what you were going do. It felt like a set-up.
And that was always the challenge. It didn't feel like someone was just wheeling away at one end, bowling good balls and dot balls and trying to create pressure and then get you out. It always felt like he had a plan. There was something going on in his head where it felt like he was out-thinking you. As much as you were in a contest of bat and ball, you were also in a mental duel with him...
.... you were in a contest with a guy who was trying to out-skill and out-think you. Warnie had that ability to get you out and not rely only on your mistakes. Both of us played a lot against each other and he got me out a few times and I might have had a little bit of success against him, but it never felt like you were in absolute control of that contest. I knew he had the skills, nous and tactics to get me out.
Warnie changed the whole theatre of Test cricket with his personality, his presence, his performance. He changed the way Test cricket was being watched from the 90s when it was all about watching fast bowlers at a time when a lot of attritional cricket was on display. Warnie just made legspin and spin bowling more attacking. Not that there were not great spinners before him, but Warnie's growth coincided with the expansion of the influence of television and technology in the game. That brought Warnie to the fore.
He changed the narrative around Test cricket: from being all about fast bowling to spin bowling. That spin bowling is match-winning. And there was no better example than Warnie: he became the man in a bowling attack with McGrath, Glillespie and Lee. I can't pay a greater compliment to Warnie.
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@donsteppa and the best part about that was often he didn't have some master plan to dismiss the exact batter on strike.
He'd have a mid-over conference with Healy and Taylor sometimes just to make the batsman nervous. They'd be quietly talking about the round of golf they planned the next day or some equally mundane shit. Then they'd point at a fielder and move them, and just get back to it.
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@donsteppa great share bro. Love how he could balance having fun and taking the piss with 100% laser focus on getting you out and wanting to win. I heard there will be over 100k people at the event today - RIP Warney.
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@paekakboyz said in RIP Warney:
@donsteppa great share bro. Love how he could balance having fun and taking the piss with 100% laser focus on getting you out and wanting to win. I heard there will be over 100k people at the event today - RIP Warney.
I read that as "over 100kg people there" and was a bit miffed I wasnt invited...
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@donsteppa said in RIP Warney:
A lengthy but good CricInfo read: Facing Warne: the magic, the theatre, and the whole shebang
Dravid, Lara, Jayawardene, Younis, Tendulkar and Kirsten recall the time they had to pit their skills against the greatest legspinner of all timePart of Dravid's comments:
One of the things that always stood out playing against Warnie was that it felt like he was always setting you up for something, like a cat-and-mouse game was always on. Just when you felt, 'I am going to go inside out,' he would bowl the flipper. Or the moment you thought he's tied me down and maybe I need to play the sweep or use my feet, he would bowl just the ball that would make that particular shot risky. Like he almost knew what you were going do. It felt like a set-up.
And that was always the challenge. It didn't feel like someone was just wheeling away at one end, bowling good balls and dot balls and trying to create pressure and then get you out. It always felt like he had a plan. There was something going on in his head where it felt like he was out-thinking you. As much as you were in a contest of bat and ball, you were also in a mental duel with him...
.... you were in a contest with a guy who was trying to out-skill and out-think you. Warnie had that ability to get you out and not rely only on your mistakes. Both of us played a lot against each other and he got me out a few times and I might have had a little bit of success against him, but it never felt like you were in absolute control of that contest. I knew he had the skills, nous and tactics to get me out.
Warnie changed the whole theatre of Test cricket with his personality, his presence, his performance. He changed the way Test cricket was being watched from the 90s when it was all about watching fast bowlers at a time when a lot of attritional cricket was on display. Warnie just made legspin and spin bowling more attacking. Not that there were not great spinners before him, but Warnie's growth coincided with the expansion of the influence of television and technology in the game. That brought Warnie to the fore.
He changed the narrative around Test cricket: from being all about fast bowling to spin bowling. That spin bowling is match-winning. And there was no better example than Warnie: he became the man in a bowling attack with McGrath, Glillespie and Lee. I can't pay a greater compliment to Warnie.
Dravid literally put me to sleep watching him bat at the MCG test years ago but he was an amazing player.
Always awesome reading about one legend talking up another. Part of the massive respect cricketers usually have for each other.
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Wow that Warney send off was something else. A legend of cricket and world sport, definitely a character that will be missed. RIP Warney.
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I bawled my fucking eyes out for 2.5 hours. Incredible send off, so emotional and such a deep recurring theme about Warneys' kindness to others, his vitality and his aura.
Amazing that Sir Elton John dedicated a song to Warne at a concert in the US where they wouldn't have had a clue who he was, complete with background images. Input from so many other global names. Some incredibly touching and humourous stories. Predictably non-PC but funny stuff from Sam Newman.
I was left wondering, genuinely, how he fitted in so much life. The way his kids spoke of him you'd think he had all the time in the world for them, yet he had so much on. The way his mates spoke of how caring he was. How many messages must he have sent? Did he never sleep? All the travel, all the charity work, all the golf, so much golf from the sounds of it! He really did pack a lot into 52 years.
RIP Shane Keith Warne
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@shark said in RIP Warney:
I was left wondering, genuinely, how he fitted in so much life. The way his kids spoke of him you'd think he had all the time in the world for them, yet he had so much on. The way his mates spoke of how caring he was. How many messages must he have sent? Did he never sleep? All the travel, all the charity work, all the golf, so much golf from the sounds of it! He really did pack a lot into 52 years.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous!
According to recent articles, Warnie was worth $50 million when he departed, which buys you a lot of time. You have a PA organizing your day and you're doing the sort of celebratory endorsement work where you get paid to do fun stuff.
Compared to us - he basically skimped on the 9 to 5 job!
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