Shane Warne Dissecting The 'Ball Of The Century' In His New Doco Is Truly Fascinating
It's the sort of thing that should be watched and studied by young, aspiring cricketers up and down the country.
Shane Warne talking in detail about his legendary 'ball of the century' is something that should be watched by young aspiring cricketers from all walks of the globe.
Warnie's new documentary called 'Shane', which delves into his life both on the oval and away from it, is now available to watch exclusively on Prime Video.
And while the doco shines a spotlight on everything from his decorated sporting career to his subsequent fall from grace, one moment in particular makes for very interesting viewing.
Shane Warne's new documentary 'Shane' is streaming now on Prime Video Australia & New Zealand.
At one point during the film, viewers are given a fascinating insight into the mindset of a young Warnie before bowling his very first delivery in an Ashes Test on an overcast, windy afternoon at Old Trafford.
And, as we all know, his very first ball turned out to be a moment which would catapult the fresh-faced, blonde-haired Aussie into superstardom.
"I remember the night before the Test match I sat in my room and I smoked about, I don't how many cigarettes I smoked," Warne says at the start of the documentary.
"I was nervous, I'm getting a bit nervous in my hands now just thinking about it.
"I'm going through their team. Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton, Mike Gatting - geez, these are good players. I didn't have a great night's sleep.
"Suddenly, the thought of actually bowling my first ball in an Ashes series was like 'wow'."
But when it came to the delivery itself, his tactics - however intricate the game of cricket is - were actually quite simple.
"My thought process was to bowl the ball and spin the ball as far as you possibly can and send a message to the England guys that this guy can spin it," Warne adds.
"Let them see it drift, curve and just rip it.
"I'm nervous and there's suddenly a hush that goes around the ground.
"I take a step, I bowl and I let go of the ball and it's all like it happened in slow motion.
"Gatting tried to turn it. It drifted and he followed the drift. It pitched, just missed his bat and just clipped the top of off stump.
"First ball in an Ashes series and it felt pretty bloody good."
The legend is born.
Warne went on to bag a whopping 708 Test wickets.
But incredibly, he admits that infamous ball at the very start of his career in 1993 might have been a bit lucky.
"Ummm, it was a fluke," Warne adds.
"Because I never ever did it again the Gatting ball. Never ever did it again.
"You'd have to say it's a fluke, but from that moment things changed - that changed my life that ball."
Former England captain Gatting, the victim of the totally outrageous delivery, then gives his side of the story on doco.
"It was just surreal," Gatting said.
"Had I of got that ball and he went on to get 35 Test wickets and retired back to the beach, then I would have been really upset.
"But the fact he turned out to be probably the best leg spinner of all-time in all of cricket was probably not so bad."
Shane Warne's new documentary 'Shane' is streaming now on Prime Video Australia & New Zealand.
Topics: Amazon Prime Video, doco, ball of the century, Cricket, Shane Warne, Documentary, Australia
Max Sherry