Shane Warne death: Isa Guha reveals influence on her cricket commentary

Isa Guha is widely-regarded as one of the world’s best cricket commentators — she reveals how Shane Warne inspired her talents behind the microphone to new heights.

The last time I saw Shane Warne in person, he came to me with a question.

“Hey Ish … I’m keen to put my hand up for this England job, what do you reckon?”

He was serious.

People might have dismissed his quotes about wanting to coach England a fortnight ago as Warnie being Warnie, but he meant what he said and he wanted to know what I thought.

Warnie holds court with Joe Root and Steve Smith.

I told him I thought he’d be amazing.

Tactically he was so good and I thought England would really benefit from someone like him who could give the players belief and enhance them as cricketers.

Warnie was close to a few of the England players having worked with them at the Rajasthan Royals and he got on with them well, as you could tell by the outpouring of emotion from Joe Root and Ben Stokes and the England players reacting to the news in the West Indies.

I absolutely think he had it in him to do that. Warnie loved a challenge and always wanted to push himself, and who knows what would have happened?

People often ask who influenced my broadcast career the most. I’d always say that I had many influences, but if I’m really honest, I’d say the pivotal moment for me was when I had Warnie’s respect. You can imagine walking into a male-dominated commentary box. full of so many legends. is an intimidating place. not least in his presence as a big personality like Warnie.

In my time with him at Sky and then Fox, he just embraced me being there and he gave me the biggest confidence boost I’ve ever had in my career when he started asking me questions about the tactics of the game. I knew then that I had his respect.

From that point on it just shifted my belief, because at that point I thought I was a terrible commentator. He had that ability to make people feel special and I know he did that to a lot of people.

Spending more and more time with him over the years quickly turned into a friendship.

I remember him asking me last year; “Ish? Do you think I talk too much on commentary?”

I didn’t know what to say, but I told him, “His opinions were so important and valid and everyone wanted to hear what he had to say.

But that the mics we use probably allowed him to just keep talking,” and he totally got that.

Isa Guha was ‘incredibly grateful to have had the chance to talk cricket with Warnie.’

He wanted to ask the question because he wanted to be better and that’s what I saw in him.

He wanted to do everything to the best of his ability and with broadcast, he would always suggest things to see how we could make the coverage better. Just like the incredible team he played with, he had such fond memories of working with the people he had and great appreciation for those that had gone before to give us the opportunities we had.

I think Warnie also respected that the line of chat might be different if I was in the commentary box as opposed to the other boys and he very much kept any talk about his private life away from me.

As we became friends I think he felt like he could chat to me about anything and he really opened up. He always had tremendous gratitude in his life for his achievements and he talked about his family and his friends with such pride and passion.

You would see that loyalty and generosity shine through when he did things to look after his mates and people he respected, and in coming to terms with things now, I just feel incredibly grateful to have had the chance to talk cricket with him at all, let alone call him a friend.

Guha and Warne were close friends.

I was just in awe of him and my favourite times ever were talking cricket with on and off commentary where he would pick up on things tactically and explain them in such a way that no one else could. He had the ability of simplifying cricket to reach a wider audience.

I think back to many times with Warnie, but one time I’ll remember fondly. There were no trains going back to London from Leeds after the Ben Stokes Headingley miracle on the 2019 Ashes, so Warnie offered to give my husband, Rich and I a lift back.

The journey back to London is usually four hours. We got back in about two.

Warnie had the windows opened, smoking out the window, pedal to the floor, listening to tunes as we chatted about what the extraordinary history we had just witnessed along with his other love, music.

He was a magnetic personality who could do genius, rockstar and mate like no one else.

Warne had ‘that ability to make people feel special.’

I remember at the Melbourne Test last year, he was on the phone for ages to some guy and I was thinking, ‘I wonder who that is? It sounds like a familiar voice, but I can’t figure out who.’

Then he saw me and he was like, “Ish, Ish, come over!”

I went over and looked at his screen and it was Chris Martin from Coldplay.

“Chris this is Isa, Isa – Chris. Chris you know Isa don’t you?”

He was just so welcoming like that and made you feel so special. I will miss him so much.

After the end of every season I’d message him and say, “Warnie, it’s such a privilege to work with you.”

And it truly was the greatest privilege.

REVEALED: WARNIE’S PLAN TO COACH POMS

By Ben Horne and Robert Craddock

Shane Warne wanted to coach England in a move which would have shocked the cricket world.

Cricket observers thought Warne, who died of a heart attack in Thailand on Friday, was playing the pot-stirrer when he playfully suggested weeks before his death he would be open to an approach to coach England.

But News Corp can reveal he privately confided to fellow Fox Cricket commentator Isa Guha and his manager, James Erskine, he was interested in the job following the sacking of Chris Silverwood after England’s Ashes debacle in Australia this summer.

Shane Warne wanted to get to know Lord’s more intimately.

In an exclusive News Corp column on Monday, Guha reveals Warne felt he could make an impact as England coach and had sought her opinion on a move which would have sent an explosive electrical current through Ashes cricket and the broader game.

“The last time I saw him in person was at the Sydney Test and he came to me and he was like, ‘Ish, I’m keen to put my hand up for this England job, what do you reckon?,’’ Guha reveals in her column in Monday’s Warne tribute liftout.

“I said, ‘oh I think you’d be amazing’. Just tactically I think he was so good and I just thought England would really benefit from someone like him just giving the players belief and being able to make them all better players. I think he absolutely had it in him to do that.

“I think he always loved a challenge and he always wanted to push himself. And I think he did see it as a challenge and who knows, what would have happened.

Warne has a word with former Aussie coach Justin Langer.

“I know that he was close to a few of the England players having worked with them at the Rajasthan Royals and he got on with them pretty well. Obviously he was delighted with the Ashes and Australia winning, but he just wanted to see a contest. He just wanted to see cricket thrive.’’

Erskine confirmed Warne expressed interest in the England job but said existing contractual arrangements meant it would have most likely happened in several years time.

“He told me he would like to coach England,‘’ Erskine said.

“Warnie would never have applied for the job. It would be a case of England tapping him on the shoulder to see whether he was interested, and he was.

Warne was captain and coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in 2009.

“He was not currently in a position to coach England with all his current contracts in place. He would not have been a replacement now. It would have been later in his career. We had just renewed his contract with Fox.

“But he wanted to do it. He liked coaching. When he was coaching in the Indian Premier League he found it exciting and he liked the 100 concept in England.

“I think he would have been a pretty damn good coach of England. Had he started coaching a major national team the drop in income would have been huge. But he was certainly interested.” 

Originally published as Shane Warne death: Isa Guha reveals influence on her cricket commentary