Test Match Special - Ball of the Century – 30 years on

Episode Date: June 4, 2023

It’s the 30th anniversary of Shane Warne’s iconic delivery to Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series. In a special programme recorded in 2013, the late Warne joined Gatting along with Phil Tufnell, Michael Vaughan and host Mark Chapman to remember one of the most famous moments in Ashes history.

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I'm Jonathan Agnew. Welcome to a special TMS podcast. Believe it or not, it's 30 years since the late great Shane Warren Bowl, what became known as the Ball of the Century, dismissing Mike Gatting at the Old Trafford Ashes Test. We'll give you a chance to listen again to a program first broadcast in 2013, where Shane joined Phil Tuftnil, Michael Vaughn and Mark Chapman to remember one of the most famous moments in Ash's history.

The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. And now at last, as far as we're all concerned, we look forward to this. Yes, this is the moment we've been waiting for. Shane Warn coming on and taking off his floppy hat to reveal a shock of blonde hair. It was the first test of the Ashes series, 1993. An ear in one year as well. had only managed 289 and we

I haven't got a ponytail then All was going to plan That first innings at Old Trafford Then Merviews and his Handelbar mustache dismissed Pyrathas He hasn't got a ponytail He's got these new shaved jobs

A number two or three razor Around the back and rather more hair on top I knew that I had little cause To fear their young legs spinner Now, just wonder, Trevor, there must be, I would think, a little bit of pressure on Young Warn's shoulders here because he'll know that his team are expecting him to come on and take some wickets here,

or at least turn the ball. Well, if he doesn't turn the ball, England will have a very good time indeed. At first the ball looks straight enough. Shane Warn. I had it in my sights. Off only two or three paces. But such was its rotation that it swerved out to the right.

See bowls and... I thought, well, that's a leg break. That's easily defence. So I stuck my left leg out And jammed my bat against it Gatting is taken on the penny's bowls All it span obscenely And out of the rough it jumped

Veered back across my batten pad Clipping my off-stom Well Gatting's still standing there He can't believe it but that must have turned A very long way We haven't got a view of this But it took his off-stump Gatting can't believe it

It was chiggery, puckery, trickery, chokery, how did he open me up? That is Shane Warn's first delivery in a test match in England. Mike Gatting is still walking off now, shaking his head, he has can't believe it at all, bold for four. Who is this nobody making me look up a fooom like an accident prone to boom, baboom, da boon, da boom, da boom. Tossed up and pitches around about outside the leg stump and turns absolutely, that turns feet. And it's taken the top of the off stump. That was an absolutely beautiful delivery. Well, he's got a huge smile on his face.

If it had been a cheese roll, it would never have got past me. That's unplayable. It was jiggery, bocary, trickery, jokery, jokery, jokery, how did he open me up? And that, I'm sure, we'll send a shockwave right through the England dressing room because that didn't pitch in the rough, that turned off the pitch. I might as well of be holding a cob of corn. Jigery, bocary, who was there's nobody making me look so forlorn. I hate Shane

That was a glorious war That's how it happened 20 years ago And before we talked to both Mike and Shane about it Say what you said 20 minutes ago, Michael Vaughn About the effect that that one ball had on English cricket Well first and foremost At least you've had a song written after you

And the cheese roll If it was a cheese roll You wouldn't have missed it, would you? I was actually going to ask Warnie how he would have played it, actually, or even you, yourself, having seen it. Well, I'm telling you what, Guy, what I've been thinking about for the whole days, if you'd have played that ball any better, we as players and England supporters may not have had to go through the turmoil

of the next 13 years where Warnie just destroyed everything that moved in front of it. If you'd have got your pad out to it or swept it, you were a good sweeper of the ball. It was the first ball, mate. Didn't your teacher ever tell you just to have a look at the bowler, see what it was doing, what the bounce of the pitch was like, etc, et cetera, et cetera. You're facing a young spinner who's not boldening.

Get after him! I feel we should bring this young spinner into this conversation. Have you ever been asked, Shane, how you would have played that delivery? No, I haven't. All I can say is I'd like to thank Mike for playing it so well

because I've watched it thousands of times and if he didn't play it so beautifully, it wouldn't have happened. So thank you, Mike. I would have tried a big moe over cow corner probably in top edge of it straight up in the air, I reckon. How many times have you watched it? You've seen that ball thousands of times, have you?

Well, I don't know about thousands of times, but I've definitely seen it a few. And every time someone tweets it to you or it's on some of the sporting programs and things like that, and if you're watching those programs having to be on, I mean, it just feels, sometimes it feels like it wasn't me. It was. It was you.

And I tell you what, you would have thought after the amount of times we've been seeing it, I'll have actually eaten it once out of the 1,000 times I've seen it. I think you play it better and better every time I watch it, actually. Warney, toughers here. Hello, toughers. Hello, mate. I mean, most spinners, I mean, I was planning that.

Most spinners try to turn it sort of the width of the bat, but you managed to turn that the width of gat. How did you do it? And that's a long way to go, I can assure you. Thanks, Cap. be tough to bowl the gap now I don't think you would have missed it these days but I think you're right Tupper's

I think when you do come on as a spinning you just try and land it What did you know about him Mike as you were facing As you just said to Michael You know you're taught to look at that first ball And see what it does and suss the bowler at What did you know about him

Going into that test series Well not a great deal He'd played in a couple of test matches overseas And they said he turned the ball a bit We'd seen a few videos but nothing of detail but we knew he had a good leg break he turned a bit and he bowled a googly

which was supposedly easily seen but his big weapon was his flipper he had and a good toppy and that's really all we knew about it and of course when he turned up and took the cap off you're just thinking okay well not seen this guy before you know what do you do had it been a half folly I'm sure we'd have tried to hit it

but I mean it actually sort of came out of his hand so well on a reasonable length and it did have some revs on it you could see and the way it dipped in you just saw you know what was it going to do

and if you look at the key I keep seeing all these pictures of the bail being off but you see where Ian Healy is he's still down the leg side expected it to do the same thing I am which is actually probably go on with the arm or just turn a little bit

and which we got covered but we didn't either of us have it covered for it sort of turning as sharply as it did so you know we knew nothing about the bloke but we certainly did and the only nice thing about it is he didn't turn into a surfy about two months later and get no more wickets

and fortunately we'll get 708 test wickets and probably been the best bowler of all time so I don't feel that bad about it now. Yeah just I mean on the modern game I mean if a young player comes into you know play against the England side they have so much footage don't they it's all been kind of kept at Loughborough so

there's no real hiding place a young player that comes in you basically seen 10 15 overs of what you can deliver before you're facing exactly how much did you see of warning and what What kind of quality was nothing? We saw nothing of warning at all. I mean, we did see just the odd clip of video

because he was bowling in India or West Indies or somewhere, and he was a young fellow who was just coming on the scene. But, you know, even if you saw all the footage of it, I still to this day will say that he couldn't have pitched it in a better place if he was going to turn it that much because, you know, it didn't actually hit the off stump. It just clipped the bail and it just took it off up into the air. And so you didn't hear the death rattle.

That's why I stood there more than anything. I thought Ian Healy had kicked the bales off trying to scamper back to the offside after it turned so much. So I'm just looking at it. Because only one bail came off and he didn't hear anything. And, you know, I've got the usual... Is your face on it when you look back? Oh, mate. It's a picture.

Especially when Heels has asked you to leave like they always do in the huge Australian fashion. And Warnie was up the other end. I think he was probably just as, I don't know, he just looked and just couldn't believe it. And I couldn't believe it either. Warnie, Warnie. Did you ever bowl a ball a ball like that in, like, junior cricket or state cricket? I think that, look, to be without trying to sound like a big head, I'd bowled a few of those deliveries in New Zealand just before we got to England,

but they didn't take any wickets. They beat the bat. We played on some wickets there that turned a fair bit, and they beat the bat and never hit the stumps. And I think that's one of the things, I can say it was actually a fluke. It was just a fluke. I mean, I never did it again first fall in a spell. I never ever did it again.

I said, I'd like to think I've bowled some of those deliveries that I think has the years when, you know, playing for 20 years and 15 years after that delivery. You know, I've got a few wickets similar. I remember a Chanderpaw one. Straussie? Drouse in Melbourne was a pretty good one. There was a few good ones, but it was never first ball.

And I think that was, I suppose, was just as good as he could actually ever bowl a leg break. It drifted just as much. It just spun enough to hit the stumps and just flick the bale. but I bowled probably 20 of those deliveries that spun further than that and missed the stumps or missed the outside edge so that's why it was a fluke.

How did you feel, Shane? I mean Australia had battered first, hadn't they, in that test match, but how did you feel as you were about to bowl your first ball in a test match in England in an Asher series? Because obviously... He was hung over.

What are you on about? He was hung over. Having been out with Merv the night before, I didn't think they were going to get bowled out that quickly. But the image that then surrounded Shane, obviously through the coming years, is of such confidence of a man who had this hex over all batsmen

because of you're a men's skill Shane, of immense confidence, and yet here you are, fresh-faced kid in your first Ashes series. So I do wonder what you felt like before you went in for that first ball. Well, I wasn't, my confidence wasn't an all-time, it wasn't that high at going into that first test

match. I remember we played at Worcestershire in a county game before that, and I think Graham hit me for 13-6s and made 200. And And the day before, we didn't bat that. Well, I think we made 200 in total. But I had to go out the next morning and bat. I ran Craig McDermott out, too, ran him out.

And so when we get into England, actually got off to a good start. So I was quite nervous. I actually rushed to get the first delivery out the way. I haven't seen the footage of what was leading up. You know, when you first start and they throw the ball. I haven't seen that footage. But in my head, I remember getting the ball. I think I bowled one, maybe two, Walmart.

balls to I think Merv or Brendan Julian at mid off and mid on and then I just got the ball back and started walking in I didn't sort of pause or anything like that I just wanted to get it out the way but you know the way my script writer works he landed the perfect leg break

I was pretty happy just to crew on I'm glad somebody was with a hangover from the night before because Gat was right I was out with Merv's night before so quite like that makes even worse Gat you got bowled out by someone that sung over. Well, he was probably quite relaxed by his boy bowling that one, I tell you.

But warning, just whenever you bowled, I mean, you know, you see loads of young kids come in and try and bowl, leg, spin, off spin, left, on, spin. And a lot of your kids, they will get nervous before the bowl. In every game did you get nervous, even towards the end when you were retiring? I got, I was confident in what I had to do, no matter who was batting. You know, and some days I'd smash you all over the park and other days, you know, it'd be your day. But I was always confident that whoever was down the other end, I could get them out. but I always had a bit of nervous energy rather than anxiety or nerves.

It was more of us a bundle of energy. I had this, I just wanted to get out there on the hand and let's get into it. And so it was more of an excitement and a bundle of energy and it wasn't so much a nerves, but you always get a bit of that, is that feeling of anticipation of what's going to happen. I think that's why sports such a beautiful game, no matter what the code, is when you walk through the gauge, no one's really sure. of what's going to happen. And I think that's what gives you that buzz, that rush, that adrenaline pumping and that

anxiety, but that, just that, come on, let's get into it. And that's, you know, I always felt that wherever I was walking out, I was just super excited, but I was also a little bit, I was on edge a little bit because I didn't know what was going to happen, but I was always when I had the ball in my hand standing at the top of my mark, I was confident that I could bowl a good enough delivery if it was down I hopefully have more patience than them and if they whack me for a few six okay eventually I'll get you out

that was just my train of thought so I suppose for young spinners out there the biggest message I can have for them and this is sort of a long discussion this about people ask where are these leg spinners where are the young spinners where are they all and I think what happens is that they all want to bowl spin

around 9 10 11 12 13 then they realize it's quite difficult and then what actually happens is they get whacked for a few sixes, bowl a double bouncer, their mates take the Mickey out of them, they need a new ball because one's been hit down the road or into a tree somewhere and then they start, and then the

captain and the coaches want the medium paces to bowl with a ring field and be more economical. So they lose heart, they're not encouraged enough to keep at their craft and to keep practicing. So what happens is the things I've seen is around 16, 17, if they're not encouraged,

they walk away from the game or will become batsman or they take up another sport. That's why we're not seeing spin bowls. It's not through a lack of people wanting to bowl spin or having heroes around the world with all the different spinners, whether it be Graham Swan or Daniel Vittori, whoever it might have been, Moostak, Suclaine, myself, merely, whoever it was, I think we were playing enough

and people were watching enough to want to be a spin bowler, but as I said, for the reasons I just said, I think they lose a lot of interest because of the way they coached and captain at 1617. And did the Ashes warny always sort of bring that passion out in you that little bit more? It seemed to be from the sidelines.

The Ashes to me was everything. I mean, of course, Australia, India, all the other series were important. They always were every time you played for Australia, no matter who the opposition was. But the Ashes, I just think because both like the take the Mickey, we both love the banter,

we all like that sort of stuff. And there's something special about an England tour. there's no air travel and I can't I can't stress enough or underestimate people they underestimate that enough that jelling together

as a group of 16 guys traveling around playing the guitar wrestling down the back having so many beers all those sorts of things and getting around a bus you just jell together really quickly and our record

of our time when we're playing in Ashes dust was just fantastic and when we did in Australia in front of our families and friends it was just unique and I think we've always had a good camarader in, I think it was summed up in 2005 with Vorney's team, but

the camarader in the sportsmanship between both teams really captured everyone's imagination. I think, yes, the skill on display from both teams in that series was fantastic, and it could have gone either way. England were the better side and they deserved to win. But the camaraderie and that between the two sides, I really thought was fantastic. And those old days when people talk about having a beer

in the dressing room after going, we used to do it. And I think it's ridiculous that they don't do it. now. There's a place for sports. There's a place for sports science and all that. I agree with it. They should not be picking teams. I mean, we got to the stage in Australia last year.

It was one all against South Africa. And Peter Siddell, who's a fantastic bowler, didn't get selected because he might get injured. Have you ever heard anything of so ridiculous in your entire life that someone might get injured? That's why we're not selected, but one all against South Africa. Give me a break. Sport science going, just sit in the corner,

gives you information and we'll say thanks but we'll select the team not you guys you encouraged that camaraderie Michael didn't you? I heard you say it the other day I think we got discouraged in 2002 three and we lost four one

because you wanted the Aussies to be a peer human well not a peer human they are human I didn't mean that as an insult shake I did it right the first time chap thank you very much to appear human to you guys that they weren't some mythical creatures well I thought that in 2002 three

there were these mythical creatures is because we weren't allowed to speak to your warning. And then, you know, in 2005, one of the things that I wanted the team to do is to almost get to know you a bit. So we knew you was Shane Warren the person rather than this guy that produced these terrific legsmen, the same as McGraw, Gilchrist, you know, Hayden, Langer. I wanted to know them also.

You know, we encouraged all the players, and we probably drank a little bit too much at times in the dressing room. But I felt it really helped our team. It helped us all to get to know you. And, you know, when we were facing the lights of McGraw and yourself at the end of the, you know, 22 yards away, You know, the banter was flying, but we also knew that you weren't that bad a bloke. Yeah, well, thanks, Forney.

You weren't too bad, either, mate. It weren't that bad, and we kind of could create a bit of spirit in our dress room because of that. You know, it really helps us. It's a super point, Vorney, because I tell you, when I first started in 91, 92 series against India, they had Capald Dev, Dilip Van Sarker. They had all these, you know, wonderful players still playing. And I was, you know, two weeks before that I was them in the... backyard. I was pretending to be Capald Dev

and all that in the backyard bowling out swings with my brother. And suddenly, Merv grabbed a six pack of stubbies and said, come on, mate, we're going into the Indian dressing rooms. I said, oh, I don't know about that. He said, no, no, come on, let's go. I said, right, oh. So I sat down, suddenly, Ravi Shastry and Capald Dev came up and said good-day and all those sorts of things. And suddenly

it was like you're just two guys having a chat. It wasn't, you weren't, even though when you're next day and you stepped out in the field, you're still opponents, there was that, there was that, there was no edge. It was, yeah, he's still competitive and he still wanted to knock them over, but there wasn't that, it was just, it broke down some of the barriers and that sort of stuff, and I don't think, I thought you were less intimidated by that. I think it's one of the

things that people are missing. You don't have to have a beer or anything either. Nothing wrong with sitting for a young bloke having a water if he wants or a diet cake. Whatever he wants to drink, a Gatorade, power aid, whatever sports drink they want to drink. But we've just got to be careful that we don't, that everything is sports. signs, get food into you and all those sorts of things, and you forget the comrata respect, because if you're scared of a bone or if you're intimidated by an

opponent, the best advice I can give to you is go and sit next to him in the dressing room and have a chat to him. Tough as all, Mike, did you find that 93 Australians intimidating? Well, 93, I wouldn't say they were intimidating. They're a very good side, and, you know, we knew there was

a, you know, we had a good chance as well. I think it was, you know, if you look back at the sides it was reasonably well balanced until Mr. Warren decided he was going to make an impact on the teams and, you know, having bowled them out for 289 at Old Trafford, you know, we were 804-1 at the time and then that sort of happened. But, you know, it was certainly a contest that was going to be a good contest and I think that, you know, up until that particular ball, I suspect it was perhaps in our favour. I think, you know, we had some good players around We had a good attack, and I think we all felt that it was going to be a good series.

So, you know, we were quite happy at the time. But, you know, that was a scenario that we had. But unfortunately, it got sort of slightly waylaid very early on in the series. You always go out and play a game of cricket, don't you? You know, expecting a win and if we play well. But then after that delivery, so to speak, and for the years then to come, it all of a sudden became a bit of a kind of like, well, you know, A few of their guys have gotten have an off day

and we've got to play well and then we might do. And even though you don't want to admit that to yourself, it does kind of become like that. You know, I mean, you look through the team sheets, don't you think, Crikey, there's these fellas here and get all Chris coming in seven

and Warnie's bowling well and things like that. And you do have to sort of like think yourself, well, you know, they've got to have an off day, really, for us to win this series. Did it change your life 20 years ago? Did it change your life? Well, I suppose all of us cricketers, we just want to be cricketers, you know,

because we love the game and we're passionate. I think the one thing that did change my life, and it was, you know, suddenly I had these photographers on my front lawn and following me everywhere I want and they want to know so much about my life and who I was with, and that was a real eye, was it, you know, early 20-year-old, 22 or 23-year-old kid from Black Rock in Melbourne

on the beach with surfboards and things and suddenly in England and all these people following me. I just couldn't believe it. I was just, you know, running me off the road. It hasn't really bloody changed actually for 20 years now to be fair

I've got to kick them off now too but really I suppose just open my eyes to so many different things and I suppose over the last 20 odd years it's just they don't train you

for those sorts of things there's no school you can you're trying to do the best you can you're going to make a few mistakes along the way but I haven't changed one bit in the same bloke I was about 20 years ago

so I'm still with my cricket love my family and I'm trying to do the best like that The late Shane War with Mark Chapman, Phil Tuffanel and Michael Vaughn, and we'll really miss Shane around the commentary boxes when the ashes starts at Edgemaster on the 16th of June. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Bring more gear, carry more passengers, face greater challenges. Welcome to the world of Defender, with seating up to eight, ample cargo space and legendary off-road capability.

It's built to make the most of every adventure. Learn more at landrover.ca. It just smashed right into the World Trade Center. It's a big, big explosion of place. People who knew me, a story about lies. You used a terrorist attack to run away from your mess and fake your own death. And love. Are you proposing to me?

In the face of death. I'm Paul. I'm six weeks in a chemo, and I have no eyebrows. An original drama for BBC Sounds. Yeah, something's up. Starring Rosamine Pike and He. Hugh Lorry, happy death anniversary. People who knew me, listen on BBC Sounds.

You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Every ball of the ashes, the women's ashes, we're live on five sports extra with plenty of build-up coverage on BBC Sounds, including a series of programmes from the Ashes, where our chief cricket writer, Stefan Schemelt, shared stories of England-Australia clashes, including Warns partner in crime, Glenn McGrath. I suppose at 2.1 down,

I mean, it would have had to take something unbelievably severe to keep you off the pitch for that oval test match. Yeah, so I was keen to play and help the team win this last test match and, yeah, retain the ashes. And even going into that last day, England had played well. They were playing confidently. But that last day, we still thought we were a chance to win the game. I picked up early wickets, so I got Michael Vaughn out caught behind

and then Ian Bell, Nick the first ball, I think it might have been to either Warnie or Mark Waugh in the slips and all of a sudden the pressure's back on England. They don't have a huge lead at that time. And then Kevin Peterson comes out and Brett Lee bowls a sort of full wide delivery and KB Nick edges it straight to Shane Warn. And Warnie had great hands

and he would have taken that catch 99 times out of 100. But it hit his hands, bounced up over his head and fell safely and KP was on Z. zero. So all these little things crept in went against us, but because England had been playing well and they're playing confidently, it went, you know, went in their favour. And KP went on, I think he got a big hundred and basically sealed our fate in that last day. Maybe you've never reflected on this. Maybe you reflected as soon as the series ended. The two test matches that England won you didn't play in because of injuries, something beyond your control.

Yeah. Have you thought about that? Did you, how did you do you do? with it. Well, you know, it is what it is. You know, I've never been someone to deal with what if. I'd try to deal with what is and, you know, that's, that's why it went. I like to think that I could have made a difference, but I'm not arrogant enough to say, yep, if I played, we would have won that series because we may not have. The result may have been the same. So England were playing well. It was the first time that they really challenged the Australian team and some of our batsmen had never been challenged before like that. They were playing incredibly well.

Their bowling attack was sensational. So, yeah, I think after that match, I remember walking off the Oval and, you know, Shane and myself were arm in arm waving to the crowd because this was the last time we were going to play international cricket in the UK. And so it was a bit of, I guess, a bit of sweet moment walking off at the end.

I can sit here now and say England were the better team. series. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Well, that was Glenn McGraw, and you can hear much more of that on BBC Sounds. Stop endlessly scrolling to find your next listen. Let back-to-back sounds do the work. Non-stop listening, however you're feeling. Like laugh yourself smart. This made it seem like I'd sent a mafia-style message to my ex-girlfriend's mum, as well as a lovely and expensive bouquet of flowers to the funeral of a woman I'd never met. The best comedy from across BBC Sounds. He's a brother, he's a husband, he's a husband.

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