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  • "Fitness is a relative term. I mean to say that it does not necessarily mean that one who runs hard and lifts weights is fit. Cricketing fitness is different. So if you can perform, it means you are fit."
    Sourav Ganguly provides his unique take on what constitutes fitness

    Jul 19, 2008

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    The return of Warne

    By Will 2 months ago Leave a comment on this post

    Oh, it’s too good to be true. Or is it?

    “If Australia really needed me and there was no one else around, and Ricky Ponting thought I could do the job, you would weigh up the options,” Warne told the Herald Sun. “If Stuey MacGill fell over and broke his leg, and there were no other spinners around, and Ricky came out and said, ‘Mate, can you please help us out for this one-off tour? We need you’, that is something I would weigh up.”

    It’ll never happen of course (though, never say never when Warne’s in the room. As his many mistresses will no doubt attest to). But we can hope…

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    11 Responses to “The return of Warne”

  • Marcus wrote:
    May 20th, 2008 at 11.59 pm

    I think it’s incredibly arrogant for Warne even to say that. MacGill’s an excellent bowler who’s quite capable of coping, thank you very much. And if he does get injured- well, so what? We can’t just keep running back to Warne. Sooner or later, we’ll have to start playing a young spinner like Casson, and it doesn’t matter whether that’s in the Ashes or not.

    And another thing. We went undefeated in the last two WCs without Warne, despite fears we’d struggle without him- in fact, there were even calls for him to come back for last year’s one. As I recall, Hogg was one pf the tournament’s highest wicket-takers, as he was in 2003. So we can win the Ashes with MacGill or even Casson. We sure as hell don’t need Warne.

  • CurryCricketer wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 1.21 am

    Australia just have to stack their team with batsmen. They need to draw the series to reclaim The Ashes, so they just need to score 600+ each time they bat (easily done).

    You know that this might well be a sneaky bit of journalism … image the kind of question the reporter asked Warne

    “So Shane, what MIGHT make you think about returning to play for Australia in the 2009 Ashes?”

  • Steve wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 3.24 am

    Marcus,

    we may not need Warnie, but I’d sure like to see him one more time against the English. How they’d sweat, even while bragging that he doesn’t frighten them.

    Actually, I think we do need him. Mac gill must really prove himself this series in the Windies. I know he’s been good in the past, but he’s been a bit like Shane Watson recently. Shane Watson at home, that is. As for Casson - so what? He’s hardly Warne or MacGill.

    CurryCricketer,

    you’re probably right.

  • Marcus wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 4.50 am

    Steve

    MacGill has been injured a lot in the past few months, but match-fit he’s still a prolific wicket-taker. He’s made a good start in this tour, and I’m sure he’ll prove his fitness and ability are still intact once the Tests start. Besides, what’s the alternative? Every time we struggle, we coax Warne or even McGrath out of retirement? By handing a player a first national contract, you invest in him, and just looking at past players is counter-productive to that investment. Casson, or Cullen or whoever they pick, may not live up to Warne or MacGill’s standards, but they’ll still have to be trusted to do a job in their own right.

  • Steve wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 6.12 am

    Marcus,

    You’re quite right, very sensible, and I am a MacGill supporter (not sure about Cullen these days) - but I’d still like to see Warne vs. the Poms again!

  • Alan wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 7.15 am

    Now, all that’s needed is for Pidge to change his mind and the terrible two will torment again.

    It will not happen ….. but I’d still like to know how much sleep Andrew Strauss will get between now and the next Ashes series … because where Warne is concerned, well, you just never know, do you :-))

  • Marcus wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 9.53 am

    Steve

    I’m not sure about Cullen these days. Thank heavens Casson came along this summer, other wise our spin situation would be dire!

  • white rabbit wrote:
    May 21st, 2008 at 10.12 pm

    Who does he think he is? Frank Sinatra?

  • Philip Oliver wrote:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 10.05 am

    The Aussies might well win with out Warne, but if they do it won’t be because of a decisive MacGill contribution.

    I know he has had his injury problems, but watching Sangakkara take him apart recently suggests he could be a weak link.

    He’ll be 38 when the Ashes start and whatever anyone says about his impressive strike rate and average, he is no Shane Warne.

  • Marcus wrote:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 10.39 am

    Isn’t that going to plague every spinner we have from now on? “Hogg’s no Shane Warne, so we might not win the World Cup?” If MacGill isn’t available next year, then Casson or someone else will be, and they should be judged on what they do, not on the fact that they’re not Shane Warne.

  • Michael wrote:
    June 2nd, 2008 at 4.18 pm

    So Warne makes a hint at returning. Then suddenly MacGill announces retirement after his entire career he talks about striving to outlast all other spinners.

    Something isn’t adding up.

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