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Is Shane Warne Australia's Michael Jordan?

Shane Warne was one of two Australians selected in Wisden's all-time XI (AAP: Julian Smith)
Roar Guru
8th November, 2011
27

Shane Warne could be Australia’s Michael Jordan. I’m sure that would come as a welcome comparison to a man who chose to wear the number 23 on the cricket field in honour of His Airness.

However I’m not comparing Warne to the title-winning, once-in-a-generation superstar Michael Jordan of Chicago Bulls vintage.

I’m talking about the aging, slowing, almost legacy destroying, should-have-quit-while-he-was-on-top Michael Jordan of the Washington Wizards.

Yes, Michael Jordan played for the Washington Wizards. I don’t blame you if you didn’t know this. You probably did know it at one time in the long ago but deliberately erased it from your memory so as to not burst into tears every waking moment of your life. I know I tried to.

The reason for those tears of pain, at least for me, was that Jordan made one comeback too many. He was too old and a shell of his former self when he began playing for Washington in 2001.

I remember watching some of those Wizards games and almost being angry with Jordan. How dare he ruin his own legacy! It was like watching a wounded cheetah still trying to hunt for its prey before being stomped on by an elephant (aka Shaq).

Yesterday Shane Warne announced his comeback to cricket and will suit up in the ‘Hulk’ green of the Melbourne Stars for the Big Bash. The announcement made me wonder whether Warne was making the same mistake as Jordan did.

There is no denying that having Warne, who is still a big name despite a much smaller frame than his playing days, will help get some bums on seats for the Big Bash. God knows the Big Bash needs the publicity as the revamped competition has received more mixed press than Julian Assange.

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The presence of Warne will mean Dads will bring their sons and daughters to the games and say “You see that guy stood in the slips who looks like a wax figure from Madame Tussaud’s? He used to be a real person and, in fact, was the greatest bowler in the world”.

But will Warne, at 42, be able to produce anywhere near his best? Logic seems to dictate that due to his age he won’t be able to but he should still be valuable. In the last IPL, despite clearly losing a bit of his zip, Warne chipped in with some handy contributions with the ball.

Additionally, unlike Jordan, Warne’s latest comeback isn’t to the highest level of his sport. Jordan came back to the gruelling 82 game season of the NBA expecting to play to the same high standards (or thereabouts).

For Warne, bowling 4 overs a match for a month or so in the hit and giggle of domestic Twenty20 will be a walk in the park compared to the rigours of Test cricket. He won’t need to produce greatness, or even resemble greatness, as often in order to contribute. It would be like if Jordan’s comeback was to participate in a month long 3-on-3 basketball competition against NBL players.

Warne’s biggest contribution on or off the field will most likely come from mentoring young players, a role he clearly excelled at during his stint at the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

There is no better experience for a young player than learning from the best. Though hopefully the young Stars players don’t follow Warne’s lead away from cricket. The last thing we want is a bunch of sexting, wax-like Warne clones with teeth so white you can’t look at them directly for more than 2 seconds before permanently damaging your eyesight.

Eight years later, despite having a negative impact at the time, Jordan’s Washington playing days no longer haunt his legacy as one of the greatest sportsman ever. In fact, they probably stopped doing so about 3.56 minutes after he retired for the final time in 2003.

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And like Jordan, Warne won’t destroy his legacy with this latest comeback.

But the reality is that he won’t be that man who rips Gatting with a ball that turned round a corner, he won’t be that superstar who bamboozled the South Africans with flippers, and he won’t be the legend who pushed off Bryon Russell to hit the game winning jumper of the 1998 NBA Finals. Wait, I’m getting mixed up with that last one. Anyway, you get the point.

Shane Warne will be shown to be human and so there is a possibility, that at least in the short term, he may taint his legacy just slightly.

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