Shane Warne’s absurd BBL prediction is coming true
Shane Warne has proven to be a cricketing Nostradamus before. One of his most extraordinary calls is now coming true.
Shane Warne has done it again.
The Spin King has proven to have predicted the future plenty of times and it’s happening again ahead of BBL14, which begins on Sunday night with a blockbuster between the Perth Scorches and Melbourne Stars.
Fox Cricket commentator Mark Howard has pointed out how Warne’s prediction for spin to dominate T20 cricket will play out again this summer.
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Howard, said he is most looking forward to seeing the Adelaide Strikers’ two-pronged spin attack of Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce in action this summer.
The spinners combined for 27 wickets between them as the Strikers stormed to within a win of the BBL final last summer.
Their success is another case of spinners proving an essential piece of any Twenty20 bowling attack in recent years, particularly in the Big Bash where all-rounders like Rashid Khan have developed into multi-million dollar IPL stars.
Warnie saw it all coming.
Right from the start of T20 cricket, Warne could see spin’s potential to frustrate batsmen.
“T20 was supposed to be the death of spin, but Warnie always said, ‘No no. This won’t be the death of spin, this will be even better for spin’,” Howard said.
“And as per usual, the great man has been proven right. I look forward to seeing all the spinners and the mystery spinners that come out of different parts of the world. I’m really looking forward to seeing how spin will affect different parts of the BBL.”
Warne’s freakish ability to read the game made him almost as good a commentator as he was a Test bowler, where he finished with 708 Test Wickets.
The Aussie Test legend tragically died in March, 2022, at the age of 52.
Among his many predictions was a call all the way back in 2016 that Travis Head was going to go on to become a superstar of the game.
In 2011, while playing for the Melbourne Stars, Warnie predicted how he was going to dismiss Brendon McCullum live on air … moments later he delivered.
Back in 2018 he used his foresight to predict three wickets on the fourth day of the first Test between India and Australia.
Arguably his greatest prediction of all, however, came during the 1999 Cricket World Cup when he correctly predicted Herschelle Gibbs’ infamous dropped catch that cost South Africa the trophy.
“The craziest thing about that is the night before in the team meeting, Warnie said ‘if you hit the ball to Herschelle Gibbs, and he catches it, don’t leave your crease, just stay there for a bit’,” Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket’s Miracle of 99 podcast.
“We all thought ‘you are nuts Warnie’. He was Nostradamus.”
He was the most-loved player of his generation and his death has left cricket with a void no player will ever be able to fill.
Howard has told news.com.au ahead of his BBL commentary this summer that it is his former Fox Cricket colleague’s memorial that has been the most difficult part of his career.
“Toughest thing I’ve ever done was having a small involvement in Shane’s memorial,” he said.
“To go and see the size and stature of the stage at the MCG and to think about all the broadcasts going around the world and knowing Shane was an absolute perfectionist and just wanting to go out there and do it the way he would want to do it,” Howard said.
“I only had to interview some of his mates. Brian Lara, Nasser Hussain, Mark Taylor, Merv Hughes. That was a responsibility that.
“I was actually shaking before we went out on the stage because Shane would do everything so wonderfully well and you just wanted to do things well for him.
“So that is by far and away the hardest broadcast I’ve ever done. That and the day directly after he passed we did a two hour live show on Fox that day and that was a tough couple of hours on TV.”
Howard has emerged as one of the most popular callers in Australian sport across cricket and the AFL in recent years.
He said there is not any secret to his polished performances as a presenter on TV and radio.
“I remember my initial sports broadcasting days and I would beg the producers, ‘Can we please do it pre-recorded’, because I didn’t want to have to do it live in case I messed things up,” he said.
“But I have learnt through experience that we all have conversations day to day. You and me can have a chat about cricket in a pub over a beer or a cup of tea and it’s no different to what we’re doing on television.”
Meanwhile, it is the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers that are once again the teams to beat this summer.
The Pink team fell 54 runs short of winning the competition last summer, going down to the Brisbane Heat in the final.
Fellow Fox Cricket commentator Mike Hussey is the ambassador for SuperCoach BBL and paid tribute to Warne, who was famously passionate about the fantasy game.
Speaking at the SuperCoach BBL launch on Friday, Hussey said he was “following in Warnie’s footsteps”.
“I know we miss him a lot and I’m sure if he was here with us he’d be very excited about the season ahead. He was very passionate about SuperCoach.”
More than 50,000 Aussies are expected to join Supercoach BBL. There are weekly prizes and cash rewards up for grabs. The competition winner will take home $25,000.
Hussey said: “SuperCoach BBL is a game for everyone, and I’m thrilled to return as this year’s ambassador.
“As a long-time SuperCoach player, I’ve experienced firsthand how it transforms the way you watch cricket - every match becomes more exciting because there’s so much more at stake. “It’s not just about strategy and competition, it’s about building a sense of community with other fans.”
Registrations are now open for SuperCoach BBL, with the season opener on Sunday December 15, when the Perth Scorchers take on the Melbourne Stars at Perth Stadium.
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