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| December 18, 2005 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 15, 1426 |
No signs of slowing down for Warney
PERTH, Dec 17: Shane Warne is showing no signs of slowing down at an age when most bowlers have already quit. The 36-year-old Australia leg spinner already holds the world record for the most Test wickets in a career and now owns the mark for the most in a calendar year.
On Saturday he broke the previous record of 85, set by Australian paceman Dennis Lillee in 1981, with a three-wicket haul against South Africa.
Warne has now taken 87 wickets this year with the second innings of this test and another match still to come before the end of the year.
“It’s obviously a very proud achievement,” he said.
“I’ve played 15 odd seasons of international cricket and to have your best season at this stage, age 36, really makes me look forward to the next few seasons.”
Warne may be in the twilight of his career but he is playing better than ever. He may not turn the ball as sharply as he once did and no longer uses the flipper but remains just as potent.
He captured 40 wickets in this year’s Ashes series in England and his three wickets against the Proteas on Saturday lifted his career tally to 648.
Warne is 70 in front of his nearest rival, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, but said he expected all his records would eventually fall.
“It’d be nice if it lasted another 24 or 25 years but I don’t think it will because there’s obviously a lot more Test cricket being played these days,” he said.
Warne has made a career out of tormenting opposition batsman and played a leading role in reviving the art of spin bowling, just as Lillee inspired a generation of Australian fast bowlers. Lillee, the president of the WACA which gave its name to the ground where Warne broke his record, was on hand to see his record broken.
“He is one of the best I have ever seen — if not the best,” he said.
“I would go anywhere to watch him play. He is a magician. To watch him move a guy around the crease, up and down and across ... as I say, he’s a wizard.”
Warne said he was proud to claim the record and also returned the compliment. “It’s a pretty proud achievement actually,” he said.
“Dennis is a legend. He is one of those those guys everyone looked up to.”
Warne said although he never played with Lillee, both of them were committed to taking wickets rather than just restricting batsmen. And paceman Lillee “always loved a challenge.”
Warne is technically bowling better than at any time in his career, surpassing his previous best years of 72 wickets in 1993 and 70 in 1994 and 2004.
But he firmly ruled out any suggestion of a return to limited-overs cricket, including the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
“I think one of the reasons I am doing so well in Test cricket is that I don’t play one-day cricket any more,” he said.—Agencies
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