Shane Warne’s Century

The book is an interesting collection of personal anecdotes about international players that Shane Warne has played with or against, and he ranks these players in a particular order based on several factors.  At the onset, Warne outlines several hints as to what these factors are, but does not give the weight he assigns for these factors.  Before even he begins to rank the players, he confides that it is his personal opinion, thus it is open to debate.  For an international cricket career spanning 15 years, Warne has obviously seen many different, colorful, varied characters on field and it is very enthralling to hear a first-hand account of his encounters with many of these great players. More than the ranking, his battle with these players are much more appealing.

Warne is an unbelievable competitor and it shows in the way he writes about his battles. I have come to appreciate his cricketing brain after reading his thoughts on the players. His on-field statistics is a testament to his greatness as a bowler but his intangible qualities holds me deeply intrigued.  Warne’s bowling strength (more than his mastery of leg spin) is the control he is able to muster on his techniques. There are lots of bowlers who have excellent technique, but at the highest level it is control and temperament that differentiate the really good from the great. Warne joins the elite class purely by his probing tactics.

There is very little room for doubt in the top ten list of players.  Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara top the list primarily because Warney had no obvious plan to figure these two guys out. They hardly had any flaws in technique (Lara was more unorthodox but still very composed) that his leg spin could expose. If there was one player Warney would have traded for Glenn McGrath in the Australian team, it would have to be Curtly Ambrose. Amby is a guy who took complete advantage of his height to generate pace/bounce, thereby making himself extremely awkward to face. Moreover, he was the last of the Windies pace machines to truly live up to the word called ‘intimidation’. He let the ball do the talking rather than his mouth and his 7 for 1 against a Australian batting line up comprising Boon, Border and S Waugh is ample proof.  50% of the top ten are Aussies – McGrath, Ponting, M. Waugh,  Border and Healy. Overall the book makes a very interesting read, with quite a bit of incisive analysis thrown in on each player’s strengths/weaknesses as perceived.