|
|
| CricketZone.Com | IndiaExpress.Com ApunKaChoice.Com |
 |
|
NEWS Cricket World Cup 2007>Shane Warne – the man who revived leg-spin 21st Dec 2006 22.22 IST By Manish Kumar Aussie leg-spin wizard Shane Keith Warne will not only be remembered as one of the greatest leg-spinners ever, but also as the man who revived the art of leg-spin in cricket. Despite all his off-field controversies like admitting to taking money from a man to provide pitch and weather reports from a man later discovered to be operating with bookmakers, his positive drug test just prior to the start of the 2003 Cricket World Cup and his marital infidelities, Warne is arguably the greatest leg-spinner in the history of the game.
Since October 2004, Warne has held the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, and in August 2005, he became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets. Warne had an undistinguished debut in Test cricket – against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 1992 – and was carted all over the park by Ravi Shastri (206) and Sachin Tendulkar (148). Warne recorded figures of 1/228 in his first Test series. His poor return continued in the first innings against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the next year, in which he recorded 0/107. However, a spell of 3/11 in the second innings contributed to a remarkable Australian win and arguably saved Warne’s Test career. Despite the inauspicious start to his Test career, Warne has since revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which many cricket fans had regarded as a dying art. For all his wickets and off-pitch (and on pitch) controversies, Warne's place in cricketing posterity was assured by the fact that cricket had been dominated by fast bowling for about two decades before his debut. Warne’s combined ability to turn the ball prodigiously, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a wide variation of deliveries (notably including the flipper) provides a welcome sight for cricket watchers. Many of his most spectacular performances have occurred in Ashes series against England , whose players' inexperience against leg spin bowling made them particularly vulnerable. No one can forget Warne’s feats like the famous "Gatting Ball" or "Ball of the Century" which bounced outside leg stump and hit Mike Gatting’s off-stump in the 1993 Ashes series. Conversely, he has struggled against India: his bowling average against them is a poor 47.18, compared with less than 31 against every other country. Warne has been highly effective bowling in one-day cricket, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. He also captained Australia on several occasions in one-day internationals, winning ten matches and losing only one. Warne had intended to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the 2003 World Cup, as it transpired, his last game for Australia was in January 2003 as he was banned for one year after he returned a positive result for a banned diuretic. However he did appear for the ICC World XI for the Tsunami benefit match in 2005. In March 2004, Warne became the second cricketer, after the West Indian Courtney Andrew Walsh , to take 500 Test wickets. He broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket on October 15, 2004 during the second Test against India at Chennai, overtaking the Sri Lankan off-spin genius Mutiah Muralitharan . On August 11, 2005 at Old Trafford, in the Third Ashes Test, Warne became the first bowler in the history of cricket to take 600 Test wickets. In 2005, he also broke the record for the number of wickets in a calendar year, with 96 wickets. Warne's ferocious competitiveness was a feature of the 2005 Ashes series. Warne took 40 wickets at an average of 19.92 in the series and scored 249 runs. Warne was chosen as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1994. In 2000, Warne was named by a 100-member panel of experts as the fourth of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Warne received 27 votes, behind Sir Donald Bradman (100 votes), Sir Garfield Sobers (90 votes), and Sir Jack Hobbs (30 votes). Sir Vivian Richards took the fifth place, with 25 votes. Warne is the only Wisden Cricketer of the Century who has not been knighted and is the only Aussie other than Adam Gilchrist currently playing the game to have been named in "Richie Benaud's Greatest XI" in 2004. In December 2005 at Perth, Warne became the first bowler in the history of Test cricket to take 650 wickets when he dismissed South African Ashwell Prince, who was also Warne’s 450th Test victim in March 2002 at Durban. In 2006, Warne was named Australian Test player of the Year. By retiring when at the height of his powers and on his own terms, he has cemented his reputation as the greatest bowler ever to play the game. Now that Warne has decided to hang up his boots, cricket will never be the same again. The following are the statistical highlights of Warne's career: Test achievements: # Holds a world record for highest wicket-aggregate in Test Cricket - 699 (ave.25.49) in 143 Tests. # Holds a world record for most wickets in a calendar year - 96 (ave.22.02) in 15 Tests in 2005. # Only bowler to have claimed 50 wickets in a calendar year 8 times - 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005 # Performed a hat-trick against England at Melbourne in 1994-95. # Holds a world record for most wickets away from home - 389 in 76 Tests (ave.24.61). No other bowler has claimed 300 wickets on foreign soil. Next best: Courtney Walsh (WI) - 290 (25.03) in 74 Tests. # Holds a world record for most five-wicket hauls away from home - 22. # His tally of 186 wickets (ave.23.43) in 34 Tests against England is not only a record by any bowler against England but by any bowler against one nation. # Only bowler to claim more than 100 wickets against three opponents - England (186), South Africa (130) and New Zealand (103). # Shares a world record for most instances of 10 wickets in a Test match away from home (6) with Richard Hadlee (NZ) and Mutiah Muralitharan (SL). # Holds a world record for participating in 90 Test wins. # Holds a world record for most wickets for a winning cause - 501 (ave. 22.52) in 90 Tests. # His ten instances of 10 wickets in a Test match have been exceeded only by Muralitharan (19). # Only spinner to claim 100 duck-victims. # Holds an Australian record for most man-of-the-match awards - 16. Only Wasim Akram (17) has been adjudged the Man of the Match more times than Warne. # Eight Man of the Series awards. # Most wickets at the following three venues: - 68 wickets (ave.20.30) in 11 Tests at Brisbane. - 62 wickets (ave.27.54) in 13 Tests at Sydney. - 56 wickets (ave.30.44) in 13 Tests at Adelaide. # Most wickets taken caught - 414. # Most wickets taken LBW - 135 # Most wickets taken stumped - 35 # Most wickets taken in the field - 320 # One batsman dismissed by him quite often: Alec Stewart (England) - 14. # First batsman to have aggregated 3000 runs without hitting a hundred. # First all-rounder to have accomplished the double of 3000 runs + 600 wickets. # First to perform the triple of 3000 runs, 600 wickets and 100 catches, # His tally of 124 catches as a fielder is the seventh best in Test Cricket. The top six being Mark Edward Waugh (181), Brian Lara (164), Stephen Paul Fleming (159), Mark Taylor (157), Allan Border (156) and Rahul Dravid (146). Also View In-Depth Coverage: Cricket World Cup 2007 Team Page: Australia Team Page: India | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
|
|
|