Adelaide loved Shane Warne and he loved us back

Shane Warne travelled the world as one of the greatest cricketers ever to play the game. But Adelaide is where he spent many of his formative years and he loved the city as much as we loved him, writes Matt Deighton.

Shane Warne loved Adelaide and the city loved him back in spades.

This was the scene of some of his most formative years, where he developed some of his most enduring and important friendships, and home to one of his greatest Test triumphs.

And, of course, because it was Warnie, a relationship not without its share of controversies.

Warne was a member of the Cricket Academy in Adelaide during its early years, sharing a room with one of his best mates, Stephen Cottrell, a fiery and talented fast bowler from country Victoria, and playing some club cricket with Glenelg.

It was 1990 and their quarters were not the salubrious surrounds of the Del Monte at Henley Beach, but at a pub in Port Adelaide.

Warne’s final exit from the Cricket Academy is a matter of much debate, but not the close friendship he shared with Jack Potter.

Warne had arrived as an overweight, unfulfilled talent, who had just spent a winter playing league cricket in England and was not really attuned to what was needed to succeed at the highest level.

“Maybe I did not realise how big an opportunity it was to learn the game,” he wrote in his 2001 autobiography.

“At that stage I just wanted to spin the ball as much as I could and hit the ball as far as it could travel.

Warne of Australia stands with mentor Terry Jenner during training at Bellerive Oval on November 15, 2005 in Hobart, Australia. Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images.

“But I defy any 21-year-old to be on his best behaviour all the time”.

However in Potter, who was head coach when he arrived, he found an ally.

Maybe it was because they were both Victorian; Warne grew up in Black Rock and Potter, who played 104 first class matches for his state, Coburg.

It was through Potter that he refined his greatest and most famous weapon. A weapon that would bamboozle the likes of Richie Richardson and Alec Stewart, and all-but-ended the Test career of South African Darryl Cullinan - the flipper.

The highly complex ball that would mysteriously come out flat and fast from a click of the fingers.

“He (Potter) made me go back to basics by bowling blindfolded in the nets and hitting a regular spot with my leg break routinely before starting to think about the flipper again,” Warne said.

“Keeping an uncluttered mind when I run into bowl is some of the best advice I have received.”

But it was also through his time in Adelaide that he met his closest coach and mentor, the late Terry Jenner.

The close relationship would last until Jenner, who played nine Tests for Australia and most of his first class career with South Australia, died in 2011, aged 66.

“Without doubt TJ has grown to become the biggest coaching influence on my career,” Warne said. “I think I immediately recognised a kindred spirit.

Matt Deighton and Shane Warne at morning conference at The Advertiser in 2018. Photo: Simon Cross/The Advertiser.

“At the time he had recently left prison after serving 18 months for embezzlement.

“He liked a beer and a good time, as I would soon discover during the course of several long nights.

“But what struck me immediately was his knowledge of wrist-spin and I think, in a funny sort of way, it helped him through a tough time as well.”

Warne would subsequently leave the academy under a cloud.

He said he left of his own volition and preferred to return to Victoria to train with the state squad after being left off an academy tour of Sri Lanka.

Regardless, fast forward 16 years and there was no such controversy.

To this day it is referred to as “Amazing Adelaide” and stands as one of the greatest Ashes fightbacks of all time, in which Warnie played a typically starring role.

Warne bowls to England's Andrew Strauss on four of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide. Photo by Greg WOOD / AFP.

In short, England made 551 in the first innings (Warne 1/167) and Australia responded with 513. A draw seemed not only likely, but any other result impossible.

Then Australia came out and rolled England on a typically flat Oval track, taking 9/70 in 54 overs.

Warne took 4/29, including the prized scalp of first innings century maker Kevin Pietersen, but it was his unwavering belief the team could win from any position that has been credited for spurring on his teammates.

Australia cruised to its target of 168 of 36 overs, with Mike Hussey hitting the winning runs and telling The Advertiser years later it was his greatest sporting moment.

When Warne was a guest editor of The Advertiser in the lead up to the Australia-India Test in 2018, he said he still couldn’t believe they had won the game.

His performance was memorialised in the Avenue of Honour at Adelaide Oval.

Shane Warne acknowledges the crowd after Australia won the second Ashes Test vs England at Adelaide Oval, December 5, 2006. Photo: Greg/Wood/ AFP

“The celebrations were fantastic, everyone on a high, and we went late into the night,” Warne said in his 2018 book, “No Spin”, with Mark Nicholas.

“Channel 9 released a video of the match called Amazing Adelaide within weeks.

“The whole country talked about it as if everyone had watched. Perhaps they had.

“There was no way back for England. If you lose after making 550, you’re shot, I don’t care who you are.”

The outpouring of emotion from South Australian cricket greats has been swift and heartfelt.

Darren Lehmann tweeted simply: “RIP King”.

Jason Gillespie tweeted: “Devastated. RIP mate. Diz.”

Greg Blewett: “The King. Always was and always will be.”

The SACA released a statement saying it was shocked and saddened by the passing of Australia’s greatest bowler Shane Keith Warne”.

Cover of a DVD on the 2nd Adelaide Ashes Test that was quickly dubbed “Amazing Adelaide” thanks in no small part to the heroic efforts of Shane Warne.

Shane Warne speaks with Nathan Lyon of Australia before Day 4 of the second Test Match between Australia and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Monday, December 2, 2019.

“Warnie thrilled South Australian cricket fans for over a decade” said South Australian Cricket Association President Andrew Sinclair.

“We were incredibly fortunate that he saved some of his most incredible fourth innings performances for Adelaide Oval.

“Thousands of South Australians have spent years in the nets trying to perfect Warnie’s flipper or googly. He made the craft of leg-spin bowling look easy. When he took the ball, invariably the momentum of the match turned.

“Warnie changed the game. He arrived when cricket was being dominated by fast bowlers and slow over rates. It appeared spin bowling was history. Shane Warne completely flipped that narrative; spin bowling became sexy, bowled by an apparent rock star. The game needed him, and he delivered truly marvellous magic.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened for his family and his many friends in the cricketing world. Vale Shane Warne”.