RIP to the Spin King: Remembering Aussie Legend Shane Warne

This is not what I expected to be writing about today ... the unfortunate death of the charismatic and fiercely competitive Australian legend Shane Warne at only 52 years of age. He was one of the Five Wisden Cricketers of the 20th Century and took 708 test wickets and 298 one day wickets during an illustrious career.

Just as I was about to sleep at 1am Australian time, the news broken on Fox Sports. No other news outlet had reported it yet. There wasn't even a mention on Twitter. I knew I'd wake up to see it all explode and that's what happened. This was a screenshot I snapped at 1am in the morning.

Growing up cricket was my life, my favourite game. We couldn't afford cable TV so it was whatever was available free-to-air that we worshipped. As I hit high school I was exposed to different sports and we could finally afford ESPN and Fox Sports so my palette had changed by that time. I had now lost total interest in cricket. That's why I've never written about cricket and it's unfortunate that it's the death of Shane Warne that is the reason for my first cricket post on Sports Talk.

I can't forget the impact Warney had when growing up. He wasn't my favourite player. That was Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, which makes sense as I was opening bowler in my younger days of playing cricket. But we all knew who the Spin King was and we all knew he was the best player in the world.

Who can ever forget the ball of the century.

Or his Ashes hattrick;

The most memorable for me however was his 700th test wicket;

It gives me goosebumps reflecting back on the golden generation of Australian cricket. What Warney should also be respected and remembered for was that he was always himself, never watering himself down because of political correctness.

He grew up with somewhat of an "Aussie Bogan" personality. He'd spin a ball at a million revolutions a minute by day, and would enjoy a beer and a cigarette by night. He would amazingly reinvented himself from someone you'd see at the corner pub, to the showman you'd find at a trendy bar hanging out with the nouveau riche.

His wealth and ventures after his career helped complete his reinvention and he always loved to live life in the fast lane. It makes sense though, because the earliest legacy that I'll remember him for was Shane Warne Cricket '99. Apart from Australia and New Zealand the rest of the world would know it as Brian Lara cricket.

The cover of the game I grew up on which was on Playstation
Source: Photo by Unknown shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.

It really epitomises Warney that he was worthy enough to be thrown on the cover of a video game becoming somewhat of a trailblazer not only for cricket, but for video game endorsement. That's what he ultimately became, a trailblazer. He had his name against endorsement from things like hair loss treatment programs, pasta sauces, underwear and even having his own line of perfumes.

It's all very sad and unexpected that his life has come to an end so suddenly. Thank you for the memories Warney ... a true Australian great until the very end.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.

• Check out our Web3 HIVE powered blog
• Or our traditional Web 2.0 website
• Check us out and give us a follow on Twitter
• Get motiviated by my Actifit journey on dblog
• And visit Sports Talk Social, a HIVE built sports media community