Ricky Ponting, Sam Newman break down over Shane Warne questions

Sam Newman and Ricky Ponting fought back tears in raw, emotional interviews when asked the same question about Shane Warne.

The quivering lips of Ricky Ponting and Sam Newman tell us everything we need to know about the legacy of Shane Warne.

The death of the greatest spinner of all time has left the nation and the sporting world heartbroken and in shock.

Warne’s former captain Ponting fought back tears on Sunday when speaking publicly for the first time since the death of his brother-in-arms.

The cricket legend had to look away from camera and needed moments to compose himself when asked by 7News to speak about his personal relationship with Warne away from the cricket field.

After 32 years together, Ponting can’t believe his mate is really gone.

“I was shocked I think like probably the rest of the world,” he said when asked about his initial reaction to learning the tragic news.

Ricky Ponting speaks to 7News. Photo: YouTube, 7News Australia.

“I mean I’ve got the messages when I woke up this morning. I went to bed last night knowing that I had to take my daughters for netball and then was confronted with what didn’t seem quite real at that time and even now probably doesn’t really seem like it’s real either.

“I’ve had a few hours now to digest it all and think about how (big) a part of my life he was and reflect on a lot of those memories through the years.

“Because he knew and touched so many people you can understand that the outpouring of emotion started amongst us (former teammates). Like most, I’ve been trying to stay away from them (text messages) a little bit because I find it a little bit hard to get on the phone to some of the boys. It’s a pretty hard time.”

Ponting became emotional when asked how he best remembers Warne.

The pair had known each other for 32 years after first crossing paths when Ponting arrived at the national cricket academy at the age of 15. They won countless Ashes series together, were crowned World Cup winners in 1999 and their partnership was the cornerstone for the most successful era Australian cricket has ever known.

Ricky Ponting speaks to 7News. Photo: YouTube, 7News Australia.

Ponting remembers Warne as a friend who transcended the sport and changed it forever.

“Every young kid in the country wanted to be Shane Warne and wanted to bowl leg spin,” he said before needing to look away from the camera.

The interview appeared to be briefly stopped at that point with the camera cutting to Ponting in a different stance as he described Warne as “one of the world’s greatest sportsmen”.

“It was the marketability side of it as well. He signed that first deal with Nike and you saw him with Michael Jordan while I was sitting back in awe at what Shane was turning himself into,” he said.

“He’ll be remembered as one of the all-time greats, but for a generation, every young kid wanted to be Shane Warne and wanted to bowl leg spin.

“He is going to down as one of the all-time greats of the game if not the greatest.

“I’ve never played with a better and more competitive bowler, someone who changed and revolutionised spin bowling.”

Meanwhile, Newman, a famously stoic figure in Australian sport, also broke down when speaking about the warm, caring friend he had in Warne.

Sam Newman speaks to 7News. Photo: YouTube, 7News Australia.

The Geelong football great and former host of The Footy Show became emotional when asked about the private side of Warne’s vibrant character.

Speaking to 7News on Sunday, Newman had to catch himself when speaking of Warne in the present tense. It was hard for him to accept his close friend is really gone.

They loved days out together on a golf course and went on trips away together. Newman said he spoke with Warne the day he left for Thailand and planned to go car shopping together when he returned to Melbourne.

Newman admits it is tough to think he will never get to do that again.

“I have lost a dear friend,” he said.

“It’s surreal. On the day I learnt of his death, I was in bed and I heard the beep go on my phone, ‘Shane Warne found dead’. I looked at it, and I honestly actually thought it was a joke.

“It is amazing to think that we won’t speak again. It is just beyond belief.”

Newman was overcome with emotion when he brought up how Warne helped him recover from the sudden death of his wife Amanda Brown.

The divisive TV character found his wife lying on the floor of their luxury Docklands apartment last year. The autopsy concluded she died of an inexplicable aneurysm.

“He (Warne) really cared about how I was going,” Newman said, before putting his hand to his chest and leaning forward in his seat.

“So he did.”

Their emotional tributes follows after cricket legends, Hollywood stars and global figures who also posted emotional messages about the cricket icon on social media.

Australian Master Golf pro am, Shane Warne and Sam Newman have a chat. Picture: Colleen Petch.

Shane Warne. Picture: Richard Dobson.

Test great Ian Healy on Sunday revealed another side to Warne — that the wrist spinner achieved everything he did, despite nursing insecurities about himself and his skills.

“Warnie was really vulnerable as well,” Healy said on Sports Sunday. “Tubby (former Test captain Mark Taylor) will know how needy he was.

“Even when he came off the field and had a good day he’d say,’ Was that OK?’

“He always needed feedback.

“For the incredibly confident man he was in the middle under all the fiercest of pressure and displaying the skills of leg-spin which was the hardest in the game, he still needed some reinforcement.

“I don’t think Bacchus (Rod Marsh) needed that, I don’t think Mark (Taylor) needed that or myself or Chappelli (Ian Chappell).

“But Warnie, the genius, needed people around him to tell him that he was going fine.”