Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’ is the stuff of legends. The Aussie spinner could not have asked for a better start to his Test career on English soil. June 4 marked the 29th anniversary of the much-talked-about delivery.
Warne came over the wicket and pitched the ball outside the leg stump. The delivery turned enough to deceive English batter Mike Gatting as it went on to hit the top of his off stump. On Saturday, Cricket Australia marked the occasion and released an old video of the late Aussie spinner recalling the magical delivery.
“I don’t feel sorry for Mike Gatting one bit, actually. He is a good player, a good bloke. Afterwards, we had a beer. “I said to him, ‘what happened?’ He said, ‘I missed it’. And I said, ‘It didn’t really spin that far, mate! Next time, try to do it better!’” Warne could be heard hilariously talking about the dismissal in the video.
Warne ended up picking up four wickets in the first innings as Emgland were bundled out for 210 runs in the first Test match played at the Old Trafford, in Manchester. The leg spinner continued his brilliant bowling in the second innings as well after he claimed four more wickets to earn a convincing 179-run win for the Aussies.
Overall, in the longest format of the game, Warne played 145 matches and bagged 708 wickets. And by the time Warne retired in 2007, he became the first cricketer to scalp 700 Test wickets.
In ODIs, Warne picked up 293 wickets in ODIs after playing 194 matches.
Warne died in March this year due to a heart attack. Fans and cricketers paid tribute to the legendary spinner during the first Test match between England and New Zealand. Spectators applauded for 23 seconds after the 23rd over of New Zealand’s first innings. Warne wore jersey number 23.
In, the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals under the leadership of Warne, had won the inaugural edition of the T20 tournament back in 2008.
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