While Australian cricket searches for Shane Warne 2.0, we should be happy with Shane Warne 0.2

FLAME-haired leggie Lloyd Pope was branded Shane Warne 2.0 this week but history warns us to be careful where we put that decimal point. CRASH CRADDOCK argues we should be happy if he is one-fifth the player Warne was.

FLAME-haired leggie Lloyd Pope was branded Shane Warne 2.0 this week but history warns us to be careful where we put that decimal point.

It’s because the stats men insist we should be very happy if Pope, or someone like him, turns out to be Shane Warne 0.2 – that’s one-fifth of Warne.

This is a compliment folks, not a sledge.

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Warne took 708 Test wickets so Warnie 0.2 would return about 141 – you don’t reckon the selectors would take that in a heartbeat.

The lively efforts of part-time leg-spinner Marnus Labuschagne (seven wickets at 22) against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates have spotlighted the eternal worth of men who bowl the ball over the top of their wrist.

As good as Nathan Lyon is, going to the subcontinent without a frontline leggie is like opening an Italian eatery with spaghetti bolognaise off the menu. You just feel a little exposed – which is just why Labuschagne’s efforts were so timely.

Lloyd Pope celebrates after taking his first Shield wicket. Picture: AAP Images

Pope bowled a wrong ’un to trap Steve O’Keeffe lbw on debut for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield this week and instantly became a YouTube hit.

Any 18-year-old bowler who can do that has a future.

He’s very good – and just the sort of quirky character cricket needs.

But leg-spin is a tricky art and the challenges just keep coming. His wrong ’un is his best ball and it’s a tasty little gem but the alarm bells are ringing.

Players will look for it now.

Pope seems up for the challenges but to be fair to him and all young leggies such as Mitchell Swepson and Adam Zampa, it’s never easy.

The most enduring, truly accurate quote of the impact Warne would have on leg-spinners was made by his late mentor Terry Jenner in a bar at Old Trafford the day after Warne bowled “The Ball of The Century’’ to Mike Gatting at the venue in the 1993 Ashes.

“Warne’s brilliance and his general charisma will prompt thousands of kids to take up leg-spin,’’ Jenner said. “But there is a chance that barely any of them will make it through the system to Test level. The trade is that hard.

“He is a one-off. Many of them will disappear into lower grades at district levels where they will confront captains who don’t understand them and batsmen with no fear who will hit them over the fence.’’

What Shane Warne achieved might never be done again.

A quarter of a century later his words have rung truer than ever.

Since Warne played his last Test in 2007, Brad Hogg (eight Tests), Stuart MacGill (four post-Warne), Beau Casson (one) and Bryce McGain (one) have twirled it out of the back of their left or right hand.

However Australia are yet to find a long-lasting wrist-spinning answer with Lyon’s ever-blossoming presence a welcome saviour.

A friend of mine likened Australia’s great leg-spin hunt to fishing for undersized bream – you get plenty of little bites but it’s just hard to hook one.

What made Warne so superior to the thousands of youngsters he inspired is a riddle that no one has ever properly answered, not even the man himself.

A few weeks ago I sat down with Warne to interview him for Cricket Legends on Fox Sports and I asked him that precise question: “Be honest, modesty apart, what made you so successful?’’

Warne collected himself for a few seconds and we discussed the benefits of having large, sausage-like fingers, captains who understood and urged him on, selectors who were desperate for him to succeed and his raw determination.

Lloyd Pope is an exciting prospect in Australian cricket. Picture: Getty Images

It all made perfect sense but plenty of bowlers had similar help and did not take a solitary Test wicket.

I still felt there was an X-factor that we could not quite put our finger on. Maybe it was a little bit of everything.

His fingers, his natural gift to be able to bowl accurately and turn the ball, as well as his underrated toughness.

What Warne’s career told us was that in Australia there is no place for the mid-range leg-spinner.

Generally speaking you are either Shane Warne, Richie Benaud, Clarrie Grimmett, Bill O’Reilly, or MacGill or you never last long.

Australian leg-spinners generally take more than 200 Test wickets or fewer than 50.

They either break through or they don’t.

It’s going to be a huge moment when the next one arrives, even if it is Warnie 0.2.

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Originally published as While Australian cricket searches for Shane Warne 2.0, we should be happy with Shane Warne 0.2