Western Morning News (Saturday)
Cricket world in mourning after deaths of two Australian greats
AUSTRALIA great Shane Warne, one of the finest bowlers of all time who revived the art of leg-spin, has died aged 52 following a suspected heart attack.
Warne – a larger-than-life character whose 708 Test wickets has only been surpassed by contemporary rival and fellow spinner Muttiah Muralitharan – could not be revived after being found unresponsive in his Thailand villa.
“It is with great sadness we advise that Shane Keith Warne passed away of a suspected heart attack in Koh Samui, Thailand today, Friday 4 March,” a statement from his management company read.
“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”
Warne – who was the joint-leading wicket-taker as Australia won the 1999 World Cup and finished with 293 one-day dismissals in 194 matches – brought an illustrious 15-year international career to an end in 2007.
Named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Viv Richards, Warne’s impact on the game is immediately apparent.
He took 195 wickets at 23.25 with 11 five-fors and four 10-wicket match hauls against the old rivals.
But there was also an affinity with England, with Warne representing Hampshire with distinction from
2000 to 2007.
While he was celebrated on the field, there was a darker side as he and Mark Waugh were fined for accepting money from a bookmaker while he was suspended for 12 months before the start of the 2003 World Cup after testing positive for a diuretic.
However, he established his legacy upon his return, becoming the first bowler to reach 700 Test wickets before bowing out after helping Australia seal a 5-0 Ashes victory in the 2006/07 series.
He continued to play on the franchise Twenty20 circuit before retiring from playing altogether in 2013,
after which he became well-renowned for his insight and forthright opinion as a commentator and pundit.
Tributes have also poured in for Rod Marsh following the death of the esteemed former Australia wicketkeeper at the age of 74.
Marsh, who had been in critical condition after suffering a heart attack in Queensland last week and died on yesterday morning, featured in 96 Tests between 1970 and 1984 and was renowned as one of the greatest behind the stumps.
Despite an inauspicious start to his career that led to the nickname ‘Iron Gloves’ after several drops in the 1970-71 Ashes, Marsh finished with a then-record 355 dismissals in Tests and a further 124 in 92 oneday internationals.
After his playing retirement, Marsh became coach of the Australian Cricket Academy in the 1990s, helping develop the likes of Ponting, and took on a similar role with England, with whom he was a selector from 2003 to 2005.
In his later years Marsh, who amassed 3,633 runs at an average of 26.51 with three centuries and 16 fifties in Test cricket, served as the chair of selectors for the Australia men’s team between 2014 and 2016, when he stepped down.
Marsh became the first Australian wicketkeeper to make a Test hundred in 1972 and registered the last of his three ton-plus scores in the format in 1977 Centenary Test in Melbourne, where ex-England fast bowler John Lever played.
Marsh bowed out of Test cricket against Pakistan in January 1984 in what was also fast bowler Dennis Lillee’s farewell. The pair are indelibly linked, combining for a record 95 Test dismissals.