Shane Warne v Steve Waugh: How a stats piece reignited 21-year-old grudge

Shane Warne has never accepted the decision to drop him in 1999 © Getty Images

Last week ESPNcricinfo published a stats piece about run-outs, with the top figure being that Steve Waugh had been involved in the most of any player during an international career – and that on 73 occasions it was his partner who ended up walking back.

There were a host of other interesting nuggets, but this is the one that caught the attention. And it reignited a 21-year-old grudge.

After some encouragement through social media, Rob Moody, who has been a saviour to many cricket fans during the Covid-19 lockdown, was persuaded to edit together a video of the 73 times Waugh’s partner was run-out. After 24 hours of work, he got the majority of them in an hour-long compilation. A great bit of a fun content (which also showed many of the run-outs were hardly shockers).

And then things really took off.

Shane Warne noticed the stat and Moody’s work, and couldn’t help but comment.

“Wow! So S Waugh was involved in the most ever run outs in test cricket (104) & ran his partner out 73 times – is that correct? Mmmmmmmmm”, Warne tweeted.

He then he added: “For the record AGAIN & I’ve said this 1000 times – I do not hate S Waugh at all. FYI – I picked him in my all time best Australian team recently. Steve was easily the most selfish cricketer that I ever played with and this stat…….”

Waugh the most selfish cricketer? This goes back a long way, to 1999 in fact when Waugh dropped Warne for the final Test of the series against West Indies in the Caribbean. Australia were 2-1 down, Warne had endured a poor series – figures of 2 for 268 as Brian Lara dominated – and he was left out in favour of Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller. Australia won the match to level the series and retain the Frank Worrall Trophy, but Warne never moved on.

“I lost a bit of respect for him after that. I believe he should have backed me – as I always believe the art of captaincy is to support your players and back them every time,” he wrote in his autobiography. “This gains the respect from the players and makes them play for you. He didn’t, it’s history, but I never found it easy with him after that.”

Warne’s latest reaction sparked analysis and comment. Waugh, himself, gave a brief response to the Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

“People keep saying it’s a feud,” Waugh said. “But to me, a feud’s between two people. I’ve never brought into it, so it’s just one person.

“His comments are a reflection of himself, nothing to do with me. That’s all I’d say.”

Warne has confirmed he is planning a tell-all documentary about his life. Wonder if we’ll hear this story again?

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo