Warnie that lovable Larrikin leggie

By Quintus de Zylva

Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria

CRICKET: We have been fortunate to live in an era when the world has been treated to the magic of the greatest spin-kings of all time Shane Keith Warne and Muthiah Muralitharan. Spin bowling has taken over as the spectacle of high drama from the brutal pace of the fast bowlers - both in test matches and ODI's. As crowd pullers, Murali and Warnie have attracted huge numbers through the turnstiles much to the delight of the ICC.

As we witness the closing stages of Shane Warne's incredible career, we have the chance to reflect on what made this spin wizard from Black Rock so irrestible - both on an off the field. Shane Warne and Sri Lanka have had a closeness that goes past a mutual admiration Murali and Shane have had for each other. Shane has said that up until the second Ashes Test match in Adelaide this year, he felt that the 1992 Test match against Sri Lanka was his most enjoyable.

Although he was sidelined for a year with a suspension, he bounced back to go past Murali in India in 2004.

And since then he has not looked back as he stands on the verge of being the greatest bowler of all time. His record of 699 wickets in 143 Test matches is more than likely to see him reach that magical figure of 700 Test wickets in the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne.

Record crowds at a sell out Test match will cheer that hero with a resounding roar when he reaches a milestone to become the only bowler to have ever taken 700 Test match wickets.

Arjuna Ranatunga and Warnie have had their now famous jibes at each other but it was Arjuna who once said that Warne was a good and great bowler. Warnie's love for baked beans and Arjuna's abdominal girth during their playing days will long be remembered as good niggling and posturing that added to the fun of cricket. Arjuna would do doubt now be one of the many cricket greats that will acknowledge Warnie's spin wizardly as being a delight to watch.

His control and variations were admired by Asian cricketing countries who were for a long time thought of as the originals in spin bowling - until this blonde Aussie came along and re-wrote the art and guile of spin bowling. Aravinda attempted to abort this young prodigy's career when he walked up to Warne in Perth in the last over before lunch - only to be beaten in flight and become just one more statistic along Warnie's amazing path to reach 700 Test match wickets.

Shane Warne also had his moments of despair. He was banned for twelve months when the World Anti Doping Committee exerted pressure on Australia to uphold the letter of the law. A diuretic as a masking agent was not Warnie's intention - he maintained that it was taken to lose weight just as so many women the world over have done for cyclical oedema. But he served his suspension and came back to join the cricketing merry-go-round with gusto. He reached that magical figure of 500 wickets in Galle - just ahead of his close friend Murali. And Galle has remained one of his favourite cricket grounds. Warne was genuinely concerned for Galle and Sri Lanka when tsunami struck. He responded by having his foundation built many homes at Seenigama.

Warne's achievements on the cricket field were matched by the paparazzi having a field day with his extra-marital exploits. A recent unsolicited biography said that his greatest achievement has been off the field with more than 1,000 beautiful conquests! In Aussie pub parlance that would make him the greatest stud bull of all time. Not all the stories we heard about Shane Warne were necessarily true - a South African woman was jailed for an extortion attempt!

Wisden named Shane Warne in its five great cricketers of the century 2000 and said that his greatness bore three characteristics - skill, novelty and drama. The Gatting Ball at Old Trafford in 1993 heralded the young blonde Warnie's arrival on to centre stage where he has remained since.

Shane Warne's 699 wickets in 143 Test matches is followed closely by Murali's 674 wickets in only 110 Test matches. As Warne departs centre stage all eyes will be on our Murali's progress to overtake this Aussie cricketing phenomenon - and overtake he must, with no other bowler in the 600 plus class which Warne and Murali have had to themselves for a long while.

As he leaves centre stage on the cricket scene he has said that his children have been reassured that he will continue to play backyard cricket with them - for they are his greatest pride and joy. Let's hope that Simone will come back into his life and forgive him for his indiscretions of the past and Warnie and his family will live happily ever after.