Rest in peace, Legend 💔

With the very sad news of the death of Shane Warne, this video by Geoff Boycott 7 years ago has now become the perfect and appropriate tribute to one of cricket’s greatest ever players.

I was at the MCG watching him bowl late in his career. It was a Shield match and there were very few people inside the stadium. At games like these there is not much going on, you hear the banter on the field, the rattle of trains around Jolimont Station, the squaking of seagulls, the flutter of flags against their poles on the main scoreboard etc. I perched myself on the fine leg boundary. It was a great spot to study this champion bowler, his action, follow through, trajectory from moment of release all unimpeded due to the vastness of a near empty stadium. What has stuck with me since was I then was audibly able to pick up, very subtly, the snap of his wrist at point of delivery. From 70 metres away!!It lent an authenticity the whole experience . Now I've witnessed a lot of memorable moments at the MCG, 30 AFL Grand Finals, Cricket World Cup Finals, Boxing Day Test classics, concerts, Commonwealth Games. But hearing the great S K Warne bowl ranks up there for this Cricket tragic as one of my most indelible moments observed in that Grand Colosseum.

I'm a dinki di Aussie but love listening to Boycott he is a legend

Geoff knows what he's talking about and listening to him talk about all these great bowlers is fantastic and let's face it he should know as he had to face a few of them back in his playing days.

RIP Shane Warne

Why do people have to slag Geoff Boycott off. He gave a very good account of Warne. I wish people would talk about the video in question and forget about doing people down>

I love listening to Boycs. He loves the game and talks of his era and current era just as highly. Also Warne in India was coming off injuries.

I could listen to him talk for hours

Rest in peace legend love from Pakistan. Since ur 1999 world cup performance i fell i love with ur bowling. Not a single day i didnt try to copy ur bowling action.

Absolutely. He is what he is. Intelligent, insightful, compelling, brilliant, cantankerous, unpredictable, nuts, irascible, irreverent, irresistible. A genius. More Jeff. More.

That shot at 0:57 is just great. The whole team in a tight cordon, like thumbscrews or a vice. Imagine having to face Warnie, the entire opposition within spitting distance of your bat.

love seeing Geoff waxing lyrical about another great cricketer

Rest in peace Warnie. Gone way too soon!

What I liked about Warne was that, up to the early 1990s, I really thought I'd been born too late and missed all the players from the great age of spin who could really perform pranks with the ball - it was said for instance that Arthur Mailey could make an orange turn three feet on carpet. Spinners were few, didn't turn it much, weren't often an attacking weapon other than by boring people out... and then along comes Warne and suddenly huge spin is a thing again. Too bad he's Australian but there you go - sometimes (as with Gareth Edwards in rugby) you just have to suck it up and accept that you're seeing wizardry even if, unfortunately, it's from the old enemy. :)

Subash Gupte also deserves some praise.

no question about it he was magical

greatest spin bowler I've ever seen in 50 years and if Boycott says that and he never got out to him, then that's enough for me

you know your stuff deejay ! respect

I heard Dicky Bird say once that this man Boycott would be the one that he puts above all others to stand there and fight. I don't disagree with.

I appreciate warne for his skill,craft and mastery of leg spin. It is irrelevant to say he failed in india. Even today no leggie can turn the ball as big as warniey

I agree Shane Warne is the best spin bowler of all time and unlike some other spin bowlers has a decent arm action too.

Shane Warne also had the psychological side of the game figured out; he could predict accurately what the batsman he was bowling to was going to do do next. He was popular in Britain as well as Australia; lots of people came to his book signings here when he'd just released his autobiography.

The mind boggles!..Geoffrey Boycott saying some nice things about an Australian?..It must have hurt him to do it!..He still see's Australia as the "Old enemy", bless him!

Geoff is right, a top sportsman wants to play against the best, and Shane Warne was exactly that!

Love you Warne. When it comes to anyone encapsulating your faults and/or brilliance in cricket there is only one...Sir Boycott.

and now we have

I'd like to know his figures in India with Laxman subtracted

Why did they frame all these interview snippets with the lamp right behind Boycott's head? Production 101.

Warne’s peak as a Cricketer was 93-98 and Australia didn’t tour India in that time. When they did go in 98, his shoulder was hanging by a thread. In 2001, he had just come back from major finger surgery and wasn’t fit. He was very fit in ‘04 and bowled very well, even though he missed the last test when Clarke took 6-9. Warne would have taken 10+ wickets on that Pitch Gad he played

In warne and murali era India had the greatest batting line up for spin playing that is why their stats are bad against India. nowadays even a newcomer comes and take 10-12 wickets in a test match. steeve o keef, adil rashid, these guys have bundled out india in recent times what a shame.

My All Time Test & ODI XI, Test XI - 1. Sehwag 2. Hayden 3. Lara 4. Tendulkar 5. Kallis 6. Gilchrist 7. Ashwin* 8. Warne 9. Akram 10. Steyn 11. McGrath *I am making all time 11 so considering all the factors and i have selected best possible test 11. Gone with Ashwin, bcos i needed a all round spin bowler, the one who can bowl spin as well bat when needed. And Ashwin fits perfectly as he is a great bowler and can score runs and stay at crease when needed. And i needed variation in bowling as Warne is Leg spinner & Ashwin is off breaker. ODI XI - 1. Rohit 2. Jayasuriya 3. Sachin 4. Kohli 5. De Villiers 6. Yuvraj 7. Dhoni 8. Murali 9. Akram 10. Lee 11. McGrath

Geoffrey was a real character and I really liked him', but he was one of the most boring batsmen in the game. If he could have batted all day for nought not, I think he'd have been quite happy. However, he is an excellent 'pundit.' He really knows what he is talking about and his views are well worth listening to. I wish there was a football pundit like him.

2:15 I've got, left to right:- Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Damian Martyn, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Unknown, Simon Katich, Justin Langer. No idea who it is at leg slip. Any ideas anyone?

Yes, indian cricketers never feared shane warne but they feared Muralidharan

For once I disagree with Boycs. Stuart Macgill was a superior leg spinner than Warne. From his Test debut in January 1998, MacGill actually had a superior record in home Tests to Warne - MacGill took 135 wickets at 27.68 against Warne's 30.42. ... In the 16 Tests that the leg-spinners played in together, Warne took 74 wickets at an average of 29.56 compared to MacGill's 82 dismissals at 22.10. It’s unfortunate that MacGill didn’t get enough opportunities to showcase his superior talent.

Spot on Jeffrey , he would not have got you out that quickly

The Greatest All Time XI: From the Realms of Immortality 1 Jack Hobbs 2 W.G Grace 3 Don Bradman (C.) 4 Sachin Tendulkar 5 Viv Richards 6 Gary Sobers 7 Adam Gilchrist (W.) 8 Shane Warne 9 Wasim Akram 10 Dennis Lillee 11 Sydney Barnes 12th: Imran Khan. Substitutes: ( Victor Trumper , Brian Lara , Jacques Kallis , Muttiah Muralitharan , Malcolm Marshall ) Manager :- Sir Frank Worrell .

Yes, India at that time had Tendulkar, Laxman, Azhar etc. who all were very good players of spin.

Remember Sidhu, Sachin, Laxman, Dravid, Lara and Azhar

lockdown made me go here.....

Funnily enough Warne's record against India is much better in India than Australia. Good evidence that India doctor their pitches and Australia doesn't

Looks to me to be Australia v India in OZ in about 2001-02 perhaps a little later say 03 tops. But this is just an educated guess as it looks like Taylor and Slater and Ponting are all in close. But Boon does not seem to be and he was a fat little bloke who was a great player and a great close catcher throughout the late 80's and 90's for OZ. Sorry I had to have only a guess I think I am close though.

When was this picture at 1:00 ??

Funny I try to bowl like that as a spinner very hard

Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil, Kumble ???

thanks for putting that painful statistic twice at the end there, cricinfo have you no heart?

I don't think Boycott said he was the best. What he was saying is as a top sportsman, you want to play against the best players, and Shane Warne was the best spinner of them all.

Most spinners - probably yes. Warne however was a class apart and would have tied Boycott in knots as he did all his test opponents.

The old dinosaur was the slllooowweessttt batter ever. Chhhutiya angriz

Why Wasim Akram is not there in his list? I think he was the most skilled bowler. Bowler of all times

Should be noted that in his last tour of india he played rather well, he didnt do a hard carry but alimg with mcgrath, kasprowicz and gillespe they were able to help australia to their only series win in india since the 70’s. Its certainly a blight in his amazing record but i feel that it should be noted he made amends late

Greatest fast bowler: Malcolm Marshall Greatest spinner: Shane Warne

0:38 Big belly on the great Mr Warne!

that should have been Geoff...

Murali averaged about 33 against India.

Scenario..You are walking out to bat..Then you see at one end, Shane Warne..And at the other, Muttiah Muralitharan!..Solution?..."Ah bugger this!..I retire!"..

Ask Sachin Tendulkar how was warne .... he hammered him

It's fairer to say that the Indians are historically good players of spin, and excellent players of spin on flat, dead Indian wickets.

Boycott wudv had no chance

'I don't remember anyone as doped as Warne'

U missed slider sir

Saqlain Mushtaq was on a different planet the bloke had genius abilty Shane Warne was fantastic bowler but he learnt a lot of spin bowling in Pakistan he would go over and learn from the best it's why he became so good

I didn't say that he did! It is incontestable that Warne is the best spinner of all time and he would have eaten Boycott for breakfast.

So in the front picture - where's the other guy? He must have been as lonely af.

Warne would hv had great success against this current Indian batting despite big names they r not as good players of spin as Tendulkar laxman sehwag ganguly.

What about Murali? He ended up with more wickets than Warne. On any bowler list of all time greats, Murali still has the most wickets ever.

Generosity, knowledge and wisdom from Boycott.

Geoff Boycott...Proper Bloke

Geoff Boycott made a lot of matches go for an extra day. He was an excellent test batsman.Warne was never as good as Dennis LILLEE. Tell them how you were scared of LILLEE Boycott.

The key word is "in" . Australia were no better in India than India have been in Australia. India were ok in Australia when the pitches had been doctored and Australia had bowlers that couldn't swing the ball. Once that actually happened it was game over. Most Aussies look forward to a test series against Pakistan from that part of the world because it's always a test, even if you don't know the players name. I see Pakistan as more of a benchmark than India.

Warne is the second greatest spin bowler. Murali first.

I think Abdul Qadir was even better in terms of leggy.

What was great about Warne was that he knew how to conceal a chuck. That helped him spin the ball

Warne was the best. Boycott was the best only in his own mind and Shane would have made mincemeat of him like Holding did in Barbados.

I (only) think its fair to say, Jim Higgs was better.

At match fixing, maybe

Overrated b'wz of his exploits against the shitty players of spin like SA NZ and poms in particular. Averaged 47 against India and struggled even on the spin friendly Indian pitches. So murali was better.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott's side if he had it his own way. Sir Geoffrey Boycott (C) Sir Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott Garry Sobers Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Curtly Ambrose Glenn McGrath

But he was also an Australian criminal.

He was rubbish on the subcontinent.