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File photo of Shane Warne with his daughter Brooke©Instagram
It’s been two years since spinning legend Shane Warne died at the age of 52. Rarely has there been a bowler who has left such an indelible mark on world cricket. Warne finished as the second highest wicket-taker in Test history. He was the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets. In the end, Warne took 708 wickets at an average of 25.41 in 145 Tests.
On his second death anniversary, his daughter Brooke Warner posted a heartfelt note on Instagram.
“2 years today, dad. It’s been the slowest and fastest 2 years without you. I feel like you were just here goofing around with us and talking about how good the new season of Peaky Blinders is, and we’ll watch the next episode together when you come home. Life really has no meaning without you here. We try to make you proud every day. “I miss you, I will love you forever.”
His Ashes debut in June 1993 was arguably cricket’s greatest moment for posterity, thanks to the internet.
It was June 4, 1993. The place was Old Trafford. Warne, until then a rookie with 31 wickets in 11 Tests, was preparing to bowl his first delivery in England. The batsman was Mike Gatting, the former Test captain who was a prolific spin bowler. What happened in the next seven seconds shocked the world.
Warne’s delivery initially appeared to have gone straight, but he took a sharp turn to the right after the delivery. Gatting responded by pushing his left foot forward to block the ball with the bat, a classic defensive batting technique against spin. However, the ball missed Gatting’s bat and spun dramatically to dislodge his off-stump.
The ball surprised Gatting, umpire Dickie Bird and the Channel 9 commentator, who commented that the ball turned “two and a half feet” to hit the stumps. In retrospect, the delivery has been called “the dance of the century.”
Years later, Gatting recalled the moment while speaking to the BBC: “It spun a tremendously long distance from two or three inches outside leg stump… The ball hadn’t grazed my bat, my glove or my pad, so I thought Australian goalkeeper Ian Healy must have kicked the bail… The ball had clipped the bail.”
Warne ended up picking four wickets in both innings of the Test and Australia won by 179 runs.
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