Former England captain Nasser Hussain remembered Shane Warne after his sudden death on Friday as he called him the greatest ever player to play the game. He added that he was always an entertainer on the field.
The legendary spinner passed away on Friday in Thailand at the age of 52. The news left the cricketing fraternity in shock and the tributes have been pouring from all corners of the world.
“For me, he was arguably the greatest cricketer to ever play the game”- Nasser Hussain
Writing in his column for Sky Sports, Nasser Hussain termed him as the greatest ever to play the game. He also recalled how the England batters had no clue against his ‘flipper’.
“For me, he was arguably the greatest cricketer to ever play the game. The game is about entertaining people, and there was never a dull moment when Shane Warne had the ball in his hand. He was absolutely genius.
“Leg spin was a dying art before he burst onto the scene; we had never heard of a ‘flipper’, and then suddenly he used to set us up with it,” Nasser Hussain wrote.
He also recalled how he brilliantly used to set the batters up with his tricks.
“He’d bowl us a ball that was short and you’d think ‘ah, Shane has lost it today, and then the very next ball was the flipper, and it was through us. He was an outstanding cricketer,” he added.
Hussain also remembered the historic Ashes 2005 when England beat mighty Australia by 2-1 in the 5-match series. Shane Warne picked 40 wickets in that series with an average of 19.92 which included two 10-for in the match. He also made some handy contributions with the bat and scored 249 runs in the series with the highest score of 90.
“When Australia really needed him in that 2005 Ashes series, when England were all over them, and they were crumbling, there was one Aussie that stood up and said ‘not today’.
“He got wickets by the shed load; he got runs by the shed load too, and he showed a lot of fight and a lot of character. Some people are brilliant at the game; some people are genius; some people have fight. Shane Warne had everything in abundance,” Hussain wrote.
Warne picked 195 wickets in 36 Tests against England which included 11 fifers.
Also read When You Are On 195-196, Then You Think Twice – Dinesh Karthik Defends India’s Declaration