warne_rf9X5_17022

by Veena Gabriel

After all that mud slinging, controversial books by Australian Cricketers,Spinner Shane Warne comes out with “Shane Warne’s century”. None of your run of the mill book, it is like a fresh breath of air carrying with it all the essentials to make it a worth while read.
Some of Shane’s Warneisms are
Inzamam, the Pakistani Skipper has been compared to a hugh bear, not the ferocious types found in Canadian forests but a gentle, humorous, relaxed kind of teddy bear. He is slow speaking, easy going and good fun even though his giant frame makes him look as if instead of bat, he is playing with a toothpick and hides the stumps effectively.
Mark Taylor, his former captain, has nothing fancy about him. Shane is all praises for Mark, the one who has all the leadership skills and excellent communication, but he laments his atrocious sense of dressing, in fact he called the shirts which Mark wears as “horrendous”. But compared to that of other player Steve Waugh, Mark’s is better.
The idolisation of Australian captain Allan Border by Srilankan Ranatunga amused Shane and he has dubbed Ranatunga’s huffing and puffing after a chase a funny scene and if Ranatunga was copying Border’s game and style, naturally latter would not be amused at all.
Warne also adds that he would have been more than happy to drop Arjuna Ranatunga if he had found a suitable replacement.
As per Warne, Rahul Dravid’s nickname should have been ‘The Fortress” which would have been more appropriate than “The Wall”.A dozen cannon firing all at once could not bring him down.
Sachin, according to him, is a consistent player.
The West Indians habit of chewing gum,looking out from behind their shades with ear phones in and moving with the rhythm of their music often made Shane wonder whether there was any sound coming from their ipods.
West Indian Brian Lara, the “Mood” player was good but did not waste time hanging round the crease - awesome to watch, with natural flair and had a high backlift. A lovely strut and a swagger aptly described the West Indian.
Chris Gayle appearance as laid back and happy go lucky fella was misleading because he is a very serious cricketer.
He also laments the habit of playing practical jokes by Glenn McGrath and as he is no 11, he has plenty of time to get up to his tricks in the dressing room, but he is all praises for the Australian’s fantastic record.
Thankfully he has refrained from getting into debate into the legalities of Murali’s action; that would had made his book like others who are thriving on controversies to be on the best seller’s list, only saying that for such a good bowler he tends to be very very defensive.
The best words which are really commendable and should be adopted by others are “Time Spent Complaining is Time and Energy Wasted”
Well done Shane you do not need any controversial gimmick to sell your best seller.