Australian cricket great Steve Waugh spills on cause of 21-year feud with Shane Warne

Aussie cricket great Steve Waugh has stood by his contentious decision which resulted in a long-lasting feud with Shane Warne.

Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has stood by the contentious decision which resulted in a long-lasting feud with Shane Warne.

Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has shared the reasoning behind the controversial decision which ignited a 21-year feud with the legendary Shane Warne.

During Australia’s tour of the West Indies in 1999 – which happened to be Waugh’s first Test series as national captain – the visitors were trailing 2-1, and needed nothing less than a victory in the final match at St. John’s to retain the coveted Frank Worrell Trophy.

Warne was coming back from a shoulder injury and performing far from his best – in the opening three matches, the leg spinner claimed two wickets at an average of 134. In comparison, teammate Stuart MacGill had taken seven wickets at 35.43 with his leg spin.

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Trinidadian cricket great Brian Lara – who went on to be named Player of the Series – had been particularly destructive when facing the two wrist spinners, regularly playing across his body with the spin.

Waugh decided finger spinner Colin Miller should be selected for the final Test, and Warne contentiously lost his spot in the side.

Shane Warne and Steve Waugh in 1995.

Speaking to former England captain Michael Atherton on Sky Sports Cricket’s YouTube channel, Waugh explained his reasoning behind the “difficult” decision, which sparked a bitter relationship with the Aussie cricket icon.

“It was my first tour as captain to West Indies. As a captain, you are expected to make difficult decisions. That’s why you are given the job. You are not there to please everyone,” Waugh said.

“I always wanted to be loyal to be my players to a certain point, but at the end of the day, you gotta be loyal to the team and their performance.

“Back in those days, when you are on tour, the two players and the coach picked the team, the selectors didn’t have anything to do with it.

“I found it strange, because you had selectors picking teams for series at home, but on away tours it was up to the captain to basically make the decision.

“Warnie had just come back from a shoulder surgery. I think he was put back into the team too quickly. We had both Stuart MacGill and him in the previous Test, turning the ball the same way. Lara, and all the left-handers were hitting with the spin, and I just thought it was the right decision.

“I didn’t consult too many players. I think, when you consult too many people, as a captain, you get confused. At the end of the day, you are there to make the decision, it was a tough one, of course.”

In the end, Waugh’s decision proved a masterstroke. Australia won the final Test by 176 runs, drawing the series and retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy. Miller finished with commendable match figures of 3/66 off 38 overs, and even chipped in with a quick-fire 43 in the first innings.

Australia has not lost a Test series against the West Indies since.

Shane Warne and Steve Waugh in 2002.

“Looking back, I think it was the right decision, but it was also the making of me as a captain because I can make that big decision that was not going to be easy, but I knew it was beneficial for the team at the time,” Waugh added.

“In a lot of ways, I was trying to protect Shane, because he wasn’t bowling well at the time. Obviously, he didn’t see it that way, but if we had gone on to lose on the next Test, it wouldn’t have been good for anyone.”

Despite the victory in St. John’s, former Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor believed the decision to drop Warne – who was a few months later named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century – was a mistake.

“At the time, no. I didn’t think it was (the correct decision),” Taylor said on Channel 9’s Sports Sunday in May.

“If you had to make a decision between the two leggies, which I think Australia had to do at that stage because Lara was playing so well, I’d have gone for the guy who’s been great for so long, even though he wasn’t at his best.

“Must-win game, I would’ve gone with Shane Warne.”

In his 2018 autobiography No Spin, Warne admitted he felt “deeply disappointed” by Waugh’s controversial decision.

“Disappointed is not a strong enough word. When the crunch came, (Waugh) didn’t support me, and I felt so totally let down by someone who I had supported big time and was also a good friend,” Warne wrote.

“Looking back, this was probably a combination of the shoulder issue still eating away at me and the pure anger bubbling inside at Steve’s lack of trust. During the first three Tests, at various times some of the bowlers came to me, grumbling about (Waugh’s) captaincy and field placements and stuff. I said I was backing him to the hilt, and if they had a problem with the captain, they should go see him direct.

“Perhaps because of this, I was deeply disappointed that he didn’t back me in return.”

Warne reignited his feud with Waugh in May after a study from ESPNcricinfo’s statisticians found the New South Wales batsman was involved in more run outs than any other player in the history of international cricket.

TWITTER CRICKET FANS!!! HERE IT IS!!

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Steve Waugh was involved in 104 run outs in his international career..

His batting partner was the victim 73 times, here's the video of those unlucky souls..

It's an hour long!!! Took me over 24 hours to make 😴https://t.co/rctxyQp2F2

— Rob Moody (@robelinda2) May 15, 2020

The King of Spin couldn’t resist calling out the selfishness of his former captain on Twitter.

“Wow! So Waugh was involved in the most ever run outs in Test cricket (104) and ran his partner out 73 times – is that correct? Mmmmmmmmm,” Warne posted.

“For the record again and I’ve said this 1000 times – I do not hate S Waugh at all. FYI, I picked him in my all time best Australian team recently.

“Steve was easily the most selfish cricketer that I ever played with and this stat …”

Last week, former Australian all-rounder Shane Lee — the brother of fast bowler Brett — revealed how Waugh burned Warne with a cruel one-liner during the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

“He (Warne) took me in and said, ‘It’s gonna be the Shane Show, me and you, the Shane Show’,” Lee said on the latest episode of the Betoota Advocate Podcast.

“And Steve Waugh pulled me aside and goes, ‘How are you going with Warnie?’

“I said, ‘Look, he’s been really nice to me’. And Waugh goes, ‘Mate, do you remember when you were at school and there was a kid at school who had no mates? And this new kid comes to school, and the kid with no mates is all over the new kid?’

“Waugh said, ‘You’re that new kid, and Warnie’s the kid with no mates’.”