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On this day in 2022, Australian spin wizard Shane Warne died suddenly at the age of 52. Warne gave cricket fans many memorable moments to cherish. His Ashes debut in June 1993, arguably, gave the greatest cricket moment for posterity — thanks to the internet.
It was June 4, 1993. The venue was Old Trafford. Warne, until then a rookie with 31 wickets in 11 Tests, was getting ready to bowl his first delivery in England. The batter was Mike Gatting, the former Test captain who was a prolific player of spin bowling. What happened in the next seven seconds stunned the world.
Warne’s delivery first appeared to have travelled straight, but took a sharp right turn after pitching. Gatting responded by pushing his left foot forward in order to block the ball with the bat, a classic defensive batting technique against spin. However, the ball missed Gatting’s bat and spun dramatically to dislodge his stumps.
The ball stunned Gatting, Umpire Dickie Bird and the Channel 9 commentator, who remarked that the ball spun “two and a half feet” to hit the stumps. In retrospect, the delivery has been called “the ball of the Century”.
#OnThisDay in 1993: Shane Warne. Mike Gatting. Ball of the Century.
( @lancscricket)pic.twitter.com/yhZS2FBWqE
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) June 4, 2021
Years later, Gatting recalled the moment while speaking to the BBC: “It did spin an awfully long way from two or three inches outside leg stump…The ball had not brushed my bat, my glove or pad, so I thought Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy must have kicked the bail off…The ball had clipped the bail.”
Warne ended up picking four wickets in both innings of the Test as Australia won by 179 runs.
The ‘ball of the Century’ not only signalled the arrival of Warne on the international stage but also revived the dying art of leg spin, which had been largely overshadowed by the legendary fast bowling performances of the 1970s and 80s.
Warne ended up as the second-highest wicket taker in Test history, becoming the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets. Ultimately, Warne took 708 wickets at an average of 25.41 in 145 Tests.
The ‘ball of the Century’ also sparked Warne’s lifelong romance with England, which became his favourite hunting ground. Warne took 129 wickets in 22 Tests played in England. Moreover, his England bowling average of 21.95 was better than his home average of 26.
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