Warnie magic!
On top of my weekend to - do list is to read Ben Stokes’ autobiography – ON FIRE, which my dear friend gifted me. With that thought, my mind wandered towards the autobiographies of other cricketers that I have read, especially Shane Warne’s ‘No Spin’.
It is unbelievable how you know some things in life and think
that it is obvious but when you read about them in a book, it just sticks in a
different way and makes you think. There
are some things like that in Warnie’s book that I want to share from the 1999 WC & the Aus tour of SL.
I need to call out an incident to start with:
In the 1999 Australia tour of West Indies, Australia were 2-1 down in the series after 3 tests (5 match series), thanks to Brian Lara’s brilliance. Warne was the Vice captain but wasn’t bowling well. Steve Waugh dropped him for the 4th test and Warne felt let down as he thought he had always backed Steve. Their relationship had turned sour.
After this series, it was time for the World cup in England.
1999 WC
Australia had started the tournament badly and had to win 6
matches on the trot to reach the final. That was a tough ask!
Aus v/s SA super six
At the end of the team meeting the night before the match,
Warne had told the team that “ If
Herschelle Gibbs catches you, stand your ground because he never holds the ball
long enough before he throws it in the air in celebration.” Not a single
person took him seriously! The rest is history…the exact same thing happened.
Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh when he was on 56 , chasing 272, and that cost SA the match. This loss
proved significant, as you will know in the next section.
Warne was such a superb student of the game that he knew how Gibbs used to throw the ball up in celebration and that such a small thing could play to their advantage. These players don’t become great just like that…the small observations & learnings go a long way in making them successful. You are never too big to learn!
AUS v/s SA semi final
It was the big match…the SA team was called the ‘chokers’ and Aussies were fighters. You will not get an easy ball or an easy run from the AUS team and SA knew that. SA was chasing and got off to a good start..and, in came the champion leg-spinner to turn the match on it’s head. I still remember the Gibb’s wicket and Warne screaming “COME ONNNN”. That pumped up the AUS team and I knew they wouldn’t be easy to stop now! Good luck SA!
In the last over of this thrilling match, SA needed 1 run
off 4 balls with just 1 wicket in hand , Klusner & Allan Donald were at the
crease. Donald ran like crazy when the ball was just at mid-on– could have been
run-out. There was so much pressure on SA and they had never been in this
situation before.
Warne says “ Once you
have reached a certain level, The hardest thing is getting over the line. It is
what separates the great from the very good”. This is so true. Many a times, we do great work and struggle to just do that little last bit to get over the
line. That was Australia’s strength. They would squeeze the life out of the
opponents and would never ever let them breathe. That is why the opponents
choke …like the SA team did that day.
When 1 run was required off 3 balls , Warne actually mentions that Klusner would have felt the pressure more since they needed only 1 run and he didn't want to mess it up. Had it been a 4 or a 6, he would have hit it. Sometimes small & simple situations put more pressure on us than the big/ complicated ones. It is all about holding your nerve & keeping things simple. SA did not do just that!
He also points out an interesting observation here: he doesn’t remember Klusner & Donald talking, even after that earlier mix up and it was like fear had set in. This made me think..It is so important to communicate, no matter the situation. In fact, it is most important to communicate when the situation is tough…so you know what the other person is thinking.. you feel better just sharing thoughts…so that there is no misunderstanding! Simple lessons from a historic match.
The match was a TIE…We couldn't believe it! A WC SEMI FINAL match, a tie!?! It was unheard of and AUS went into the final just because of their win against SA in the super six stage (match discussed before this one).
I still remember watching this match with my dad (I was jumping up and down and my dad sat with his hands on his head at the end of the match). WHAT WAS THAT??? It was a CLIFFHANGER! I felt bad for SA and wanted them to win but was in awe of the way the Aussies fought till the last ball. There was not a doubt in their mind that they can win..so what if only 1 run was required? They always believed and the champion spinner played a big part in that.
Well, we all thought that there can never be another tie..that
too in a WC semis..but it just got better in the last year WC final between ENG
& NZ! The ENG NZ tie just replaced the AUS SA semi tie as the best ODI
match ever , for me!! 😊
Australia and Warne were on top of the world after the WC
victory - he was also the man of the match in the semi-final and final matches!
Next stop was Sri Lanka for an ODI & test series.
In the first test, Steve Waugh & Gillespie had a nasty collision and AUS had lost the test. During the selection committee meeting for the 2nd test, Warne wanted to make sure that Steve didn’t play that match. He was looking for revenge as Steve had dropped him in WI. Warne was not loyal to Steve anymore and admits that it was childish! He thought Steve was jealous of him and hence had dropped him. Steve managed to get his way and they agreed that he will play..obviously against Warne’s wishes.
Now the biggest lesson for me:
Warne says “ I’ve always said you don’t have to have your best mates with you on the field, but that when you cross the white line to represent Australia, you play as if every one of those 10 guys is your best friend and – here is the key – you support them to the hilt”.
This is GOLD. You may hate your team mates…doesn’t matter. If you have the same goal, you work together with the team’s best interests in mind, no matter what. Back your team…always.
If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail
This is so deep. Warne says preparation before a match is
both physical & mental. He used to hate the team meetings or “that stupid
touch rugby” or football games on the morning of a match and would keep asking
how much longer this “rubbish” was going on for…cracked me up😊. His theory was that the preparation must be done the previous day and one
should conserve energy on the match day that can be used up on the field.
He says “Cricket is about doing the basics better than the next bloke, so simulate the basics, focus on match awareness and understand the angles. Establish some facts that might provide you with an advantage : where is the sun, where are the good and bad backdrops for picking the ball, is one boundary shorter or longer than the other?. “
So true. We forget about basics and don’t keep anything
simple. We want to make everything big ,complicate it and in the process forget
what we had set out to achieve and why. If we do the basics better than the
other, you will win most often than not..simple, isn’t it?
I got a chance to meet Warne in AUS during the historic 2018 test series that we won and told him how much I loved & enjoyed his book!
Jai Hind
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