Shane Warne the cricket brain has often fought a losing battle against Shane Warne the sideshow.
But Warne’s forecast regarding England skipper Alastair Cook’s captaincy will be his overriding legacy this Ashes summer.
“If Australia play well and he (Cook) continues to captain the way he does. I think England are going to lose the series,” said Warne, when very much a lone voice of doubt before England travelled Downunder.
With the scoreline reading 4-0 heading into the final Ashes Test in Sydney, Warne has been proven spot on.
Cook’s negative captaincy on the third morning at the MCG was case in point, as he let Brad Haddin and Nathan Lyon put on 40 runs for the final wicket and give Australia a crucial boost.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has since accused Cook of “going backwards” and England of being “timid” and “attritional”, joining a growing number of critics.
However, during the winter, Warne was slammed for his repeated criticism of the England captain’s methods as the Australians crumbled to a 3-0 series defeat in the UK.
The spin king was accused of making things personal against Cook and showing obvious bias towards his mate, Australian skipper Michael Clarke.
Warne came out swinging again in early November, while England were preparing for the return Ashes in Hobart.
He insisted there was no agenda behind his stinging critique of Cook’s captaincy, but that because of his negative style, England were sitting ducks.
All the while, most pundits were predicting a fourth-straight series win for England.
“Cook can be negative, boring, not very imaginative … he lets the game drift,” said Warne.
“He waits for it to come to him … he needs to be more imaginative. I don’t think he can captain like that.”
Warne’s comments were for the most part presented as “there he goes again” and Cook dismissed them as “old news”.
Despite all his celebrity trappings, Warne knows cricket.
He insisted before the series that he wasn’t “the only one who thinks Alastair Cook is a negative captain.”
It’s clear now that Clarke, coach Darren Lehmann and their Australian team were among those who shared Warne’s opinion, believing they could take advantage of the tactics and mindset of their opposition.
Prosenjit majumdar
Guest
Last time england were in australia,andrew straus had bowlers in form.tremlett was fast n bouncy,bresnan at about 140 ks.both are trundlers now and that's not helping cook to be an aggressive captain either.
kombiutedriver
Guest
I actually find Warne's comments quite interesting but you have to sift through some of the more outrageous ones. When he is serious he is quite intuitive. The trouble is that he has a tendency to sensationalise some things and favour a few players at times. With Cook, Warne along with Vaughan and a few others saw inadequacies with his captaincy and some cracks starting to emerge in the English team during the Ashes series in England. The 3-0 result allowed some bog to cover those cracks but the Ashes tour out here has highlighted and even magnified them.
Mits
Guest
Completely agree. I love Warnie but he's beginning to sound like a broken record constantly hammering Cook. I would rather be listening to suggestions what Warnie would be doing if he was the captain in Cook's shoes than listen to why Cook isn't a great captain and singling out his every mistake.
up in the north
Guest
Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I just think he could be a little more diplomatic, he's there as a commentator, not an active participant. Leave the mind games to those directly involved Warnie, it makes you seem like a wanna be.
NORDBURG
Guest
Warne was bound to get one of his stupid comments right eventually.You open your mouth often enough,something correct will finally come out.But all his other gems,the names Beer and Quiney come to mind,have made him look stupider than he already seems.Would of loved to be on Sale of the Century with Warne and Warner as my fellow contestants -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.