In a candid interview with a select audience including HUW TURBERVILL, Shane Warne revealed that he believes England could let Joe Root concentrate on his batting and go for Jos Buttler as captain... and plenty more was covered besides
Shane Warne, left, and Jos Buttler
Shane Warne has a new book out. His second autobiography. It’s called No Spin. He is in England promoting it.
In a candid interview with a small, select audience including HUW TURBERVILL, he revealed that he believes England could let Joe Root concentrate on his batting and go for Jos Buttler instead as captain; why he thinks Tim Paine will not be in charge for next summer’s Ashes; and why he won’t be going to dinner any time soon with Steve Waugh.
I worked with him a lot this winter (with Rajasthan Royals in the IPL). He would make an excellent captain. I’d like to think I helped him a bit. I love talking cricket with him. I find it odd he’s batting at No.7 for England. He would be a very good England captain.
Joe Root is England’s best player. He is a gentleman, a lovely guy. England may say, “our best player needs the shackles off. Jos, you bat at 7, play with freedom, and we want Joe to concentrate on his batting. He has the talent to be the best batsman in the world”.
It was great to see Joe get a hundred in that last Test, but he has 14 hundreds in 80 Tests (actually 74… Ed), he cannot yet be spoken about in the same breath as Steve Smith or Virat Kohli. He will be disappointed with his conversion rate. If he wants to be one of the best batsmen of the modern era, he needs more hundreds.
Australia’s batting is the weakest I have seen it. It might be the weakest ever. I am really happy that Aaron Finch is getting a chance. I think he is captaincy material. I like the way he goes about his cricket.
Our bowling is really strong, though. We have good pace back-up – if they pick the right people, like young James Pattinson.
Warne has plenty to say in his new book
I don’t think a wicketkeeper can be captain. They make great vice-captains as they see everything – angles, fields, bowling. There’s always an exception, like Jos, but I don’t think Tim Paine will be captain for the Ashes.
He needs to put pressure on himself. He has a great technique. He speaks well. I’d like to see him batting at No.4 or 5. Anybody can go behind the stumps and get 20 or 30. Tim should bat at No.5 and get some hundreds.
Mitchell Marsh is at No.4! Why? He averages 27. If not Tim, maybe Finch if he can grab his chance. Nathan Lyon maybe. Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood. It doesn’t always have to be a batsman. There’s always an option.
No matter how bad England or Australia are, the Ashes always brings out the best in everyone. I think both sides rely on too few. Alastair Cook is a big loss. There are some good players in the England side, but the top order is shaky – two or three for not much all the time.
Jonny Bairstow and Stokesy have done well at times. Jos at No.7 or Moeen Ali have rescued them. Both sides need stability in their top order, and the gun players like Root, Smith and David Warner need big hundreds.
Stuart Broad and James Anderson’s record away from home is not every good, but their record here with the Dukes ball is as good as anyone. They have been amazing. I think Australia have come here and been too aggressive (against them).
Hazlewood was learning in 2015, they had two left-armers in Starc and Mitchell Johnson… I think this attack will give England a real run for their money. I don’t England have feared Australia lately. Once they won in 2005 (the only Ashes series I lost – and they deserved to win, they were the better side) the fear has gone. They think Australia can be beaten.
Australia haven’t too many match-winners, X-factor players. Mind you, I don’t think Australia fear too many either, except Anderson. He averages 37 with the ball overseas (actually it’s 32.5. Ed), but here, facing him, is one of the toughest challenges there is.
Warne's book is on sale now
It’s quite odd. Your team-mates are always very supportive. When you travel together for a year, you build up relations, but when a player comes back it is awkward. It takes time to adjust. I think Australia will be pleading to have them back.
They are in the list of top five batsmen in the world. They will play the IPL, World Cup then the Ashes so they will be fine. I don’t know Steve that well. I worked with him a bit when he was a bowler who batted No.8. I am surprised how many runs he has made with that technique. I look at him and think he is a good No.8.
But his concentration, discipline, eye, determination… if you want to pick one player to bat in Tests it’s Kohli or Smith … No one comes close. If you picked one batsman in all forms, Kohli, but in Tests, for me, Smith gets the nod. His record in the last two or three years has been phenomenal. Smith and Warner just need to be true to themselves.
I think David is at his best when he has a bit of an edge. When he plays the enforcer role. There’s a fine line, though. The nature of the beast is that he wants to be in the action every ball. But don’t go over the line! Occasionally he might.
They need to earn the respect back from everyone who loves the Australian team. I am not sure how it gets to the stage in the dressing room where you are going to take sandpaper on the ball. But they have paid a penalty that is so harsh – a fine of round about £10m.
The opposition captain (Faf du Plessis) did it twice and got a £1,000 fine. I would have stuck with what the ICC said, miss the next Test, then the ACB should have sacked them as captain and vice. I am not sure Steve will be captain again. I was surprised they played in Canada. I thought they would have a year away.
Warne backs Steve Smith to return to the Australia side
One of the funniest ones was at Sydney in 1998/99 (Carlton & United Series, first final). I was captain (Steve Waugh was injured). England were cruising, about 195 for 4, 30-40 to win, nine–10 overs to go.
I had saved Glenn McGrath for a couple of overs, and I had a couple myself. I felt I had to get into Nass the over before I came on. “You know you are not good enough to play one-day cricket, you know you are going to mess it up, your team is going to lose…” He came back at me, “Get stuffed mate, you are never going to captain Australia again…”
I thought, “Right, I’m in here, I brought myself on, he ran down the wicket, got stumped.
I also got Adam Hollioake, and Glenn McGrath did the rest. Game over. They lose. I remember saying to him, “Yes Nasser!” I crossed the line a few times, but I played 145 Tests, 194 ODIs, for 23 years! There was the one with Marlon Samuels in the Big Bash, Andrew Hudson in South Africa… a handful of times in 23 years. I’d rather it be none.
As a team, we became a bit cocky and arrogant at times. We thought we were better than the opposition. We were. That’s where the fear factor came in. But if somebody called Moeen Ali ‘Osama’, that’s out of order. It should have been penalised at the time. I would make sure there was an apology after the game. I would have walked him into the dressing room, and said, “You owe him an apology.”
I could go on and on about why he was so selfish. If five of you went for dinner and it was £100, £20 each, he’d say no, I only had the £11.25 steak. He was one of those. Sorry I have only got $100s for the cab. When he was captain he said, “Australia doesn’t need a nightwatchman, we are going to play aggressive cricket.”
We were in Adelaide and we lost two wickets and he told Dizzy to put the pads on. And we were all thinking, “I didn’t think we were having nightwatchmen. And he said, “no this is super-important”. And he was in next. And we were all desperate for a wicket to fall, but it didn’t. I could go on and on.
Now the time is right (for this book), 11-12 years after I have retired. I was very close to him, but I saw him change. He became obsessed with averaging more than 50, and being dropped. I’d listen to him at meetings, and think, “Jeez we’re different”. He was still a brilliant cricketer. He’d be in my all-time XI: tough, determined, uncompromising, skilful, awesome…
You are the only one who knows the right time. It was his time now. Yeah he scored a few hundreds in the last couple of years, but he has been hanging in there for a while. He played beautifully at The Oval as he had the freedom.
He didn’t have to worry about being picked next week. He broke the shackles. It was great to go out on a high like that. That atmosphere was unreal. He’s been phenomenal. All that calmness in the dressing room. What he has given to English cricket – he was a rock.
No Spin: My Autobiography by Shane Warne, is published by Ebury Press.
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