Legendary Australia spinner Shane Warne died of a reported cardiac arrest in Thailand on Friday. He was considered as one of the league’s all-time greatest players who reinvented spin bowling. He was 52 years old at the time. Warne’s managers issued a short statement stating that Warne died in Thailand and that the cause of death was perhaps a heart attack. Since playing his first game in 1992, Warne has appeared in 145 Matches for Australia, taking 708 wickets. Warne had 293 trophies in 194 ODI outings.
Shane Warne produced a list of milestones that any bowler would covet over the course of a 15-year career that culminated in 708 Test wickets. How do you decide which of his best moments on the field was the best in history?
Below are five of his most impressive moments.
The Gatting Ball
The Gatting Ball, often understood as the Ball of the Century, was among Shane Warne’s most memorable international performances. On the second day during his first Test of the 1993 Ashes series at Old Trafford in Manchester, the Australian spin hero delivered the ball to England batsman Mike Gatting.
It was Warne’s opening ball for his first Ashes Test vs England. It was widely viewed as important not only in the circumstances of the game or series but also in cricket overall, as it heralded the return of leg-spin bowling.
World Cup 1999
The stunning late run-out of South Africa’s Allan Donald that secured a stalemate in the 1999 World semi-final is remembered by most, but it was Warne who aided set up the outcomes with top three wickets in rapid sequence to flip the momentum of the game. Warne ended with a score of 4-29.
Wicket no. 700
26th of December, 2006. What have you been doing? If you were in attendance just at Melbourne Cricket Ground, you experienced Warne neatly bowl England captain Andrew Strauss for his 700th Test wicket. What a turning point.
Adelaide Test 2006-07
At the start of day five of the 2nd Ashes Test in 2006, England was one wicket behind in its second innings, and the number of individuals who felt Australia could pull off a win could be counted solely on a single hand. One of them was Warne. After that, the remainder is historical.