Tribute to a cricketing icon: Shane Warne’s Sri Lankan connection

Shane Warne’s 500th Test victim – Hashan Tillakaratne in the first Test at Galle in 2004

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The SSC grounds in 1992 where Shane Warne’s legend began

The entire cricket world went into mourning by the sudden demise of Shane Warne who died of a suspected heart attack on Friday at age of 52.

Warne’s career was as colourful on the field as it was off the field. There was never a dull moment when he had the ball in hand, or was texting messages or was behind the microphone giving expert opinions on the game.

Many would not know Warne’s connection with Sri Lanka. It goes back to the 1992 Australian tour of Sri Lanka where Warne with his budding Test career on the line was thrown the ball by his captain Allan Border.

To quote from Warne’s biography “Spun Out – the Shane Warne story”: “With the match now in the balance (Sri Lanka 137-6 chasing a target of 181), four wickets to get and only 36 runs needed, Border threw the ball to Warne, whose Test figures had ballooned to 1 for 346. Shane was not convinced it was great either…..”

“With (Greg) Matthews shouting encouragement, ‘Come on, Suicide’ (as in Suicide Blonde), Shane bagged his first Test wicket for eight months with the first ball of his second over: (Pramodya) Wickramasinghe, caught at cover trying to slog him out of the park. Ten balls later, he snared (Don) Anurasiri in similar fashion. And two balls after that he finished off the innings by getting (Ranjith) Madurasinghe, with Greg Matthews suitably taking the catch. In just 13 balls he had picked up the wickets of the last three batsmen without conceding a run.”

It was an amazing finish to the Test as Australia pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in Test match history – an unlikely win by 16 runs.

That spell of bowling saved Warne his Test career as he went onto become one of the greatest leg-spin bowlers the game has ever produced.

Warne’s next memorable moment with Sri Lanka came 12 years later in 2004 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium where he took his 500th Test wicket to become the first spinner in the history of the game to reach the mark.

 “To get my 500th wicket was a bonus and to get 10 wickets as well - I couldn’t have written a better script for myself. To come out and do what I did today and win a Test match was a very big achievement and I feel very proud of myself,” was how Warne described his achievement which was watched by his parents.

His 500th Test victim was Sri Lanka’s skipper Hashan Tillakaratne who skied a slog-sweep into Andrew Symonds’ hands at short mid-wicket.

Warne celebrated the moment by holding the ball above his head and bowing to the crowd, who were remarkably appreciative of his achievement given that he had trumped their hometown hero Muttiah Muralitharan to the 500-wicket mark. 

Australia won the first Test by 197 runs and went on to make a clean 3-0 sweep of the series with Warne taking 26 wickets (avg. 20.03). 

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain on the tour commenting on Warne’s achievement said, “When the game is up for grabs there is probably no one in the world you would rather have with the ball in his hand.”

Warne’s last commitment towards Sri Lanka came soon after the country was ravaged by the tsunami on Boxing Day in 2004 that damaged the Galle Cricket International Stadium to a great extent.

Warne travelled to Sri Lanka and visited some of the worst hit areas including Galle which he described as, “Where one of my favourite cricket grounds in the world was washed away” and through the Shane Warne Foundation raised money to rebuild the stadium.  He pledged US$ one million to rebuild the stadium.

Warne wrote in his Daily Telegraph column: “Murali and I have always got along okay, I have huge respect for him, but fate and its tragedy has thrown us together in this and no doubt it has brought us closer. Our head-to-head battle for the world Test-wickets record is a terrific joust on the sporting field, but on this issue I’m proud for us to be brothers in arms for such a cause.”

Warne’s greatest spin rival Muralitharan with whom he had many a battles in the race to become the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket said, “I’m deeply shocked and saddened that the legendary Shane Warne with whom I have had years of cricketing association has passed away at such an early age. He was truly a genius in reviving the art of leg-spin to be at the forefront of Australian cricket dominance and I have greatly admired him for the way in which he created bowling history. I will remember him for the great memories we have shared together and extend my heartfelt and deepest condolences to his immediate family and loved ones as we will all miss his versatile personality, later as a top-notch commentator.”

Warne picked 708 Test wickets while Muralitharan had 92 more by the end of his career.

Warne pays a visit to the Galle International Cricket Stadium with Muralitharan after it was devastated by the tsunami

Warne visited the village of Seenigama in support of the Foundation of Goodness post-tsunami to enrich humanity