File photo of Shane Warne
He may have been the greatest leg-spinner of all time, but the late Shane Warne was never a great believer in sports science, the Australian magician revealed in one of his interviews before his shocking death.
Warne, credited for reviving the art of leg-spin bowling with 708 wickets in 145 Tests in a illustrious 15-year career, died of natural causes at the age of 52 in Thailand on Friday.
In a conversation, Warne told Australian football manager Ange Postekoglu that he was not a fan of sports science and had just taken an ice bath.
“I often think about how I’m going to get it. I was great when I was fresh. I wasn’t big with all the sports science stuff,” Warne told Postcoglu, who led Australia to back-to-back FIFA World Cups. Qualification led. , and are at the top of Celtic where the team currently top the Scottish Premiership table.
“Today, looking at the matchups and all these things, Data – as a head coach I’ve experienced it, working through it I’ve said, it’s all fine, but where’s the spirit for the game? Warne , one of the best cricket minds he had ever had: “I’m happy to hear you in sports science and say, ‘This guy’s throwing a lot of balls, he’s 50/50, he’s on his red zone boundary’ Is’.
And I’m going, ‘Okay, we’ll find someone else’.
“Then they go ‘Wait, he’s our best player’.
I said, ‘Well this is an important game, how do you say this one game is as important as the next game.
They are all important.’
“So, I struggle a little with sports science.”
It was only during the scorching heat of Sharjah when the temperature soared to 56 degrees that Warne took his only ice bath.
Warne recalled about the Test against Pakistan in Sharjah in 2002, saying, “I only did an ice bath (as a player) once. It was 56 degrees. It should have stopped, it was so hot.” Was.”
“Some fast bowlers had jelly feet after an over. They had to come off, it was so hot.
“We came later (to the ice bath), when we jumped in some people started pouring beer. It was like having a beer in an ice bath.
“It’s modern-day recovery, matchups, data, sports science, I’m not sure. I would have said just let me be.”
Warne had an eight-wicket haul as Pakistan were bowled out for 59 and 53 – their lowest Test scores at the time – as the Australian completed an innings and 198-run victory in the second Test.
“If I didn’t perform, you could go on me. I always believed that some things were really important to get to the top. A lot of people talk about ‘in the zone.’ For me, ‘ In the ‘Zone’ you have 100 percent concentration on what you have to do at the moment.
What does the team need from you right now?
“The only way to get into that area is if you’ve cleared everything before you play.
There was a physical preparation that I always had to do… but the mental side, I think we have only touched the surface of the mental side of things, how to approach the game.
“Sometimes we stuff players with too much stuff, we just don’t let them go and play.”
Wanted to coach England after Ashes
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The legendary legspinner once told his friends, weeks before his death, his interest in coaching England, especially after their 0-4 Ashes defeat.
“I want to do it, it’s a great time to coach England… I think I’ll do a great job,” Warne, who won the first IPL title as captain-cum-coach of Rajasthan Royals in 2008, told the Sky Sports cricket podcast last month.
Following the sacking of Chris Silverwood and former Australian coach Justin Langer, South African great Gary Kirsten and English assistant Paul Collingwood were considered major contenders for the position.
“There” is a lot to work with. There are a lot of good players in England and a lot of depth, but you have to fix some fundamentals,” Warne had said.
“You can’t bowl no-balls and drop so many catches, but you have players, they’re not performing.”
Warne had said that he would like to receive the title of “team manager” and that his coaching stint will be marked by “honesty” with the players.
Many people, including Warne’s longtime manager James Erskine, confirmed that his desire to coach was genuine.
– Reported by PTI