Fox Cricket launches Ashes summer: Shane Warne sand sculpture becomes bogged at Bondi Beach
It’s likely you’ve heard a few Warnie stories — but none like this. It involves the spin king, a 300kg sand sculpture and a bogged vehicle at Bondi Beach.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
In the old days it was Shane Warne who used to carry his teammates, but at dawn on Bondi Beach it was the other way around.
A cricket team’s worth of 12 Fox Cricket workers were called upon to perform a dramatic rescue operation where a 300kg statue of Warne’s head had to be shifted across the sand on their shoulders.
Fox Cricket launched its bumper Ashes coverage with an incredible recreation of Mount Rushmore, where the heads of leading commentators Warne, Isa Guha and Adam Gilchrist taking over the famous Bondi landscape – but it wasn’t before a near disaster had to be overcome.
The 4.5 tonne telehandler transporting the monument weighing one tonne in total onto the bench got bogged in the sand coming down the ramp from the concourse and after the 12 men nearly dropped Warnie as they staggered across the sand, urgent calls were placed to the Mayor of Waverly Council to get a fleet of council workers down to the beach at 5.30am.
Not even a sand moving bobcat could shift Mount Foxmore so the heads of Guha and Gilchrist had to be manually placed onto a truck by the Council saviours, and the monument was pieced together on the sand just before bathers started swarming the beach.
After taking 708 Test wickets, Warne is entitled to have a big head, but this was ridiculous.
“If I’d been there I would have tried to help them out,” said Warne, recovering in Melbourne from a motorbike accident and unable to attend.
Sport’s greatest rivalry is just around the corner and you can catch the Ashes live and ad-break free during play. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
“They did a 3D scan of each of our faces for it and it took 14 days to build the sculpture.
“They got a bit close to my face with the 3D scanning, I think it’s pretty good, they’ve done a good job.
“We’ve always been innovators at Fox Sports especially the way we cover cricket … and to see what Steve Crawley has done at Fox Cricket, the coverage is just superb. It’s as good as anyone watching cricket around the world gets.”
Guha said a Ashes summer was just what Australians were crying out for.
“Cricket is part of the culture here in Australia to have the cricket on in the background, barbecue in the backyard. I thinkit’s what everyone needs at the moment,” she said.
“There are two great teams with seriously box office talent and two teams that can be both be vulnerable at times and that will make it an even more interesting series.
“As an English voice I think it’s important to keep things level, keep those Aussie boys in check and make sure they don’t get to ahead of themselves.”
Gilchrist joked of the giant sand cast “half of Bondi Beach was needed just to do my ears” but wasn’t game to make any comment on the size of Warne’s melon.
“I’ll leave it to the punters to complete which President is which … Trump isn’t on Mount Rushmore is he?”
Early Shield statement amid Head move
The national selection chief was in Sydney where a curious Travis Head move was in place as a regular Victorian run scorer opened the Sheffield Shield season in style.
Test scout: The Aussie hopes hanging on Shield opener
A potential Cameron Green sized hole has left Australia’s selectors with a huge headache. This week they get their first chance at finding a way to fill it.