Warne on old rift with Steve Waugh: 'Felt totally let down when he dropped me'

[slippy888]

Shane Warne has reheated his old feud with Steve Waugh by revealing in a new book that he felt "totally let down" by Australia's then captain when dropped from the playing XI in the fourth Test against West Indies in 1999. He also described his former Australia captain as "the most selfish player I ever played with, and was only worried about averaging 50".

Heading to the Caribbean, Waugh had just been appointed Test captain with Warne as vice-captain, and Australia had started the series by bowling out West Indies for 51 to win the first Test by 312 runs. However, Brian Lara made two of the finest centuries of his career, 213 in the second Test and 153 not out in the third, as West Indies stormed back. The home side were leading 2-1 heading into the final Test in Antigua, and Warne's returns in the first three Tests were a poor two wickets at 134.00.
'Baggy green worship made me want to puke' - Warne

"All that worship of the baggy green - some of the guys went with it, like Lang [Justin Langer], Haydos [Matthew Hayden] and Gilly [Adam Gilchrist], but it wasn't for me," Warne wrote. "They loved it but, to be honest, they made me want to puke with it half the time. I mean, wearing it at Wimbledon! Who wears a green cricket cap to Wimbledon? It was just embarrassing! Mark Waugh felt the same. I don't need a baggy green to prove what playing for Australia means to me or to the people who watch us."

In an extract from his book published in The Times, Warne describes the selection meeting before the final Test.

"I was vice-captain and bowling pretty ordinary and Tugga [Waugh] opened the selection meeting between the two of us and Geoff Marsh, the coach, by saying, 'Warney, I don't think you should play this next Test.'

"Silence. 'Er, right,' I said. 'Why?' 'I don't think you're bowling very well, mate.' 'Yes... fair call,' I admitted. 'My shoulder [after surgery] is taking longer than I thought but it's close now. The feel is slowly coming back and then the rhythm will come, mate. I'm not worried.'"

Marsh agreed with Warne but Waugh stuck to his guns, which led to an impasse. Allan Border, a selector at the time who was was off duty but there in Antigua, was asked for his views. Warne writes that Border supported him, saying: "I back Warney every time. The situation is made for him. Anyway, we owe him. Think of what he's done for Australian cricket. We need to show faith."


Warne on old rift with Waugh: 'Felt totally let down when he dropped me' - ESPNcricinfo

 

[mr_mister]

I agree with his criticisms of Langer at least. Way too weirdly obsessed with the baggy green and 'the Australian way'

 

[Spikey]

the fun thing about whenever warne talks about this is that he never actually does a good job in disputing steve waugh's decision. it's always Shane Warne should never have been dropped because he's Shane Warne, not that Shane Warne didn't deserve to be dropped

 

[Hicheal Michael]

I agree with his criticisms of Langer at least. Way too weirdly obsessed with the baggy green and 'the Australian way'

smh, you can already see Langer's influence within these soundbites.

'He's a great man, he's a great Australian.' (0.32)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTSoGjuuS6s


'I would run through a brick wall for him.' (1.37)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_XeG_zgRRQ

 

[stephen]

the fun thing about whenever warne talks about this is that he never actually does a good job in disputing steve waugh's decision. it's always Shane Warne should never have been dropped because he's Shane Warne, not that Shane Warne didn't deserve to be dropped

Yep that's exactly it. He deserved to be dropped and probably shouldn't have been playing at that point. His shoulder was still nowhere near 100%.

 

[mr_mister]

He had a crappy series up until that point but he was vice captain and I think they deserve a bit more leeway before they're essentially demoted. I mean Taylor was afforded a year of bad form in 96/97 due to his leadership status.

Having said that Waugh probably only wanted to play one spinner and Macgill was bowling well

It's tough

 

[stephen]

He had a crappy series up until that point but he was vice captain and I think they deserve a bit more leeway before they're essentially demoted. I mean Taylor was afforded a year of bad form in 96/97 due to his leadership status.

Having said that Waugh probably only wanted to play one spinner and Macgill was bowling well

It's tough

It's different with bowlers than it is with batsmen.

Bowlers you can always judge their form by watching them. Sometimes you really can't go by how good they look but usually a bowler that looks good even when they're not taking wickets will come good soon. For batsmen it can almost be a case of "bad luck". They can look a million bucks in the nets and have a run of low scores in the middle. Often batsmen who are not clearly past it (ala Ponting at the end of his career) should be persisted with since their form can turn at any point.

 

[Spikey]

Yeah but a bowler who is bowling badly gets a lot more opportunity to perform badly than a batsman does

 

[S.Kennedy]

Is it true about them wearing the caps to Wimbledon? That is pathetic.

 

[fredfertang]

Would be interested to hear Colin Miller's view, although I have to say that from what I recall of Miller I'd have picked Warne over him without too much thought

 

[GotSpin]

Warne still unable to justify why he shouldn't have been dropped

 

[Burgey]

Waugh probably felt totally let down by the way warne was bowling.

 

[quincywagstaff]

He had a crappy series up until that point but he was vice captain and I think they deserve a bit more leeway before they're essentially demoted. I mean Taylor was afforded a year of bad form in 96/97 due to his leadership status.

Having said that Waugh probably only wanted to play one spinner and Macgill was bowling well

It's tough

MacGill was hardly having a stellar series but was taking more wickets than Warne. I think as much as anything what was pivotal was the SCG Ashes Test played before that series which was Warne's first back after shoulder surgery where he took 2 and MacGill took 12 or thereabouts.


As an aside, it's an oddity that arguably Australia's two most famous post-war bowlers in Warne and Lillee took so few wickets in the West Indies; Warne well under 20 and Lillee 0.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Warne still unable to justify why he shouldn't have been dropped

It was hilarious on that "I'm A Celebrity" show a couple of years back when Shane Warne went on this exact same whine about his 1999 omission and Brendan Fevola of all people exposed the weakness in his complaints.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Actually just reading the article I thought it was just old stuff about the 1999 Windies tour selection which we've heard all before, but there's some interesting new revelations there.

Didn't know that Warne actually argued against Waugh playing in the 2nd Test of the 1999 Sri Lankan tour after that horror Gillespie collision; I do wonder whether sub-consciously Waugh was determined to play was that despite his World Cup triumph he'd to that stage struggled in his first few Tests and when he went off injured Australia seemed to visibly lift under Warne's captaincy and got back into the game.

Also interesting to know that Waugh stated his displeasure about the way Warne was carrying himself in behaviour and weight; it does make more sense now why John Buchanan on the 2001 tour publicly commented about Warne's weight issues - something that their relationship never recovered from.

 

[Top_Cat]

Personally I’ve never backed form as the reason he was dropped, even if it made a convincing enough argument by itself. AB was right, the situation was made for a Warne and the deck at St Johns was a turner too. Something else was going on. Waugh was made captain (correctly) over Warne and one wonders if this was Waugh asserting himself a bit. Warne bitching to the press about retiring in the aftermath kinda proves the point too.

I thought at the time it was the right call and they came out looking very different in the next Test, much more cohesive. And it’s kinda hard to argue with the extreme levels of success that came after. Being reminded he wasn’t undroppable probably made Warne a better bowler in the end too.

 

[mr_mister]

I wonder if Warne would have retired if the '99 WC ended differently

 

[the big bambino]

All I get from that is Warne wasn’t fit enough to be playing the first three tests and Waugh gave him more than enough opportunities to “come right”. BS on the situation being right for him too. We were down 2-1 partly bcos of Warnes poor form.

Warne is a hypocrite. I think it’s great people symbolically show their devotion to something greater than themselves. Whereas Warne betrays his selfishness by believing his spot in the team shouldn’t ever be questioned. His accusation of selfishness is projection. Why would Waugh tarnish his own captaincy record by leaving out his great bowler unless he thought it was for the good of the team? On reflection I think it was one of best and courageous captaincy calls in our history.

 

[TheJediBrah]

What surprises me is that people can still be surprised by Warne's selfishness and dumb-assedness

 

[social]

You'd have to go a long way to find 2 more different personalities than Waugh & Warne so no surprises at friction