Melbourne: Australia's controversial spin legend Shane Warne once again hit the spotlight after he slammed his former teammate and Aussie skipper Steve Waugh, saying he was the “most selfish cricketer I've ever played with.”
“There's a lot of reasons I don't like Steve Waugh, a lot of reasons because he's the most selfish cricketer I've played with, blah, blah, blah,” Warne, who had appeared on Ten's ‘I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here' programme, said.
The former Australian spinner spoke about the final Test against West Indies in 1999 where he was dropped from the playing eleven, in spite of being the vice-captain.
"One thing that really annoyed me about him was the one Test I got dropped, in West Indies. We had to win the last Test match to win the trophy. At that stage, captain (Waugh), vice-captain (me), coach (Geoff Marsh) used to pick the team," said the 46-year-old.
"We went to selection. I hadn't bowled well, we'd lost. Brian Lara batted unreal but I felt like I was being the scapegoat, because I didn't bowl well it was my fault.”
"Anyway, we get to selection table and I said, 'OK, what's everyone's thoughts?'. Steve Waugh said, 'You're not playing'. I went, 'What? Hang on. What do you think the team should be? Blah blah blah', and Steve Waugh said 'No, I'm the captain of this side, I'm the captain, you're not playing'.
"I was really disappointed. After 10 years. I'd just had a shoulder op. I thought the situation where we had to win the Test match would have brought the best out of me too."
During that fateful Test in Antigua, Colin Miller had replaced Warne and Australia registered a 176-run win to draw the series 2-2.
Warne then added: "I don't like Steve Waugh for a lot of other reasons."
(With PTI inputs)
