Steve Waugh was the most selfish player: Shane Warne

Australian legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne minced no words when he called former skipper Steve Waugh as “the most selfish player” in his soon-to-be-released book ‘No Spin’.

Extracts from the book were published in the Times newspaper in London which revealed these details of Warne’s experience of sharing the dressing room with Waugh as part of the invincible Australian side that dominated world cricket during their time.

“All that worship of the baggy green – some of the guys went with it, like Lang (Justin Langer), Haydos (Matthew Hayden) and Gilly (Adam Gilchrist), but it wasn’t for me,” wrote Warne.

“They loved it but, to be honest, they made me want to puke with it half the time. I mean, wearing it at Wimbledon! Who wears a green cricket cap to Wimbledon? It was just embarrassing! Mark Waugh felt the same. I don’t need a baggy green to prove what playing for Australia means to me or to the people who watch us,” he further added.

The legendary yet controversial leg-spinner wrote of the year 1999 when poor form saw him getting removed from the side for the series against the West Indies. Wait said that he felt ‘let down’ by Waugh who didn’t back him.

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He said, “”I was vice-captain and bowling pretty ordinary and Tugga (Waugh) opened the selection meeting between the two of us and Geoff Marsh, the coach, by saying, ‘Warney, I don’t think you should play this next Test.’ ”

“Silence.’Er, right,’ I said ‘Why?’ ‘I don’t think you’re bowling very well, mate.’ ‘Yes… fair call,’ I admitted. ‘My shoulder (after surgery) is taking longer than I thought but its close now. The feel is slowly coming back and then the rhythm will come, mate. I’m not worried,” he revealed.

He said that despite selector Allan Border supporting his inclusion, Waugh stuck to his decision of not letting him into the squad.

“Disappointed is not a strong enough word. When the crunch came Tugga didn’t support me, and I felt so totally let down by someone who I had supported big time and was also a good friend,” he said.

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Warne also went on to admit that he conducted himself poorly after this development.

He wrote, “I wasn’t that supportive of the team, which I regret. Looking back, this was probably a combination of the shoulder issue still eating away at me and the pure anger bubbling inside at Steve’s lack of trust.

“During the first three Tests, at various times some of the bowlers came to me, grumbling about Tugga’s captaincy and field placements and stuff.

“I said I was backing him to the hilt and if they had a problem with the captain they should go see him direct. Perhaps because of this, I was deeply disappointed that he didn’t back me in return,” he stated.

Image Source: Hindustan Times