Johannesburg - The Saturday morning before the ‘438 Game,’ an Australian journo friend called me. “Mate, some of the Aussie Test players are doing media later, Warnie’s gonna be up, he’s got quite a bit he wants to get off his chest, you should get down there,” he said.
There was a short turnaround between the fourth and fifth ODIs in that 2006 series, and the Sunday Independent sports editor at the time wasn’t enthusiastic about messing around too much with his Saturday afternoon plans that included live local football and rugby. “I’ll keep it tight,” I half-heartedly remarked, “but it is Warne, so it’ll be good.”
It was the first time I’d had the chance to interview Warne in any capacity, and even if it was a press conference and not an exclusive, it was a lot better than nothing.
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As it turned out I was the only South African there and being that was the case, Warne used me, to get a message to the South African team and specifically the young, outspoken captain, Graeme Smith.
It was typical Warne. “Graeme Smith is the worst captain South Africa has ever had.”
“Shaun Pollock’s team did better the last time in Australia.”
“Smith talks too much, he was lucky his team didn’t get swept in the Tests in Australia. And then they didn’t make the final of the triangular series.”
A psychological grenade tossed at South Africa on the eve of a series decider aimed specifically at Smith, someone Warne enjoyed baiting. It was a sign of respect, even though it didn’t seem so at the time. A few years later when they were teammates at the Rajasthan Royals, Warne approached Smith before the first team meeting and asked: “Are we going to have a problem?” The Royals shocked everyone by winning the IPL that year. Warne and Smith became very good friends thereafter.
Warne’s media sledging played no part in the outcome of the game the next day, but then Warne didn’t play in that famous match at the Wanderers. He did have his say - both verbally and with the ball - in the Test series that followed.
Typically his timing was perfect. With the series on the line and South Africa grimly blocking out for a draw in the Durban gloom in the second Test, Warne delivered, claiming 6/86 his best figures on South Africa soil. Australia won the match, the series and Warne was player of the match. It was his last Test series in SA.
He more than anyone else was responsible for the dominance of that Australian side over South Africa. All the careful planning, the desire, the great talent of that late 1990s, early 2000s South African side were no match for Warne. He never lost a Test series against South Africa and he was responsible for the collapse and arguably the most painful episode in South African cricket history on the field, in the infamous semifinal in Birmingham.
It’s worth recalling that Australia wasn’t in good shape at the 1999 World Cup. Neither was Warne. He and Australia’s captain at the time Steve Waugh were at logger-heads - with Warne still bristling about being overlooked for the captaincy following Mark Taylor’s retirement. Despite being Australia’s vice-captain, he had also been dropped in a series in the West Indies prior to the World Cup.
Strange as it may seem, his confidence at that tournament was at a low ebb, not helped by Waugh’s ‘sergeant major’ method of running that team - that included a curfew and drinking ban.
Waugh acknowledged that he didn’t handle Warne well at the time, and heading into a must-win Super Six clash with South Africa at Headingley, he slowly allowed Warne some say in the tactical planning for that game. It was Warne, who at the last minute in the team meeting the night before told everyone not to walk if Herschelle Gibbs took a catch, because he had a habit of “show boating.” “Good point Warney,” Waugh recalled someone saying.
A much bigger impact would come in the semifinal a few days later. Warne had still not been himself in the build-up, but his teammates noticed a change of mood as Australia took to the field, in defence of a mediocre total. Warne was telling all of them that his time was most likely up and that the match would be his last ODI.
Australia’s confidence was already rocked by their below par performance with the bat, and it took a further hit with Gibbs and Gary Kirsten starting South Africa’s chase aggressively.
Warne started his spell in the 11th over. The very definition of the phrase ‘match changing’ followed.
His first wicket was a ‘Ball of the century 2.0’ a ripping leg-break, pitched outside leg-stump, that spun across the batter and hit the top of off-stump. Gibbs, normally so beautifully balanced, almost fell over.
Warne meanwhile, went nuts. ‘COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!’ he bellowed. Adam Gilchrist struggled to hold onto and joked some time later he thought he’d broken a rib trying to hold onto Warne. “Months of pent-up frustration, self-doubt, anger, humiliation and defeated ambition surged out of him as he pumped his fists furiously and exhorted his teammates to believe,” respected Australian journalist Andrew Ramsey wrote. Warne took 4/29 and was named man of the match.
Warne loved his time in South Africa, he had many friends among the cricket fraternity, but also outside of that too. He turned dreams into nightmares for a generation of South African cricketers, and he was the villain of the piece for many fans. But the players respected him - and enjoyed the post match drinks in his company - and the fans, grudgingly, enjoyed him.
He changed the game. How many can say that?
@shockerhess