File photo of Shane Warne
He may have been the greatest leg spinner of all time but the late Shane Warne was never a great believer of sports science, the Aussie wizard had revealed in one of his late interviews before his shocking death.
Warne, who is credited with reviving the art of leg-spin bowling by taking 708 wickets in 145 Tests in an illustrious career spanning 15 years, died of natural causes at the age of 52 in Thailand on Friday.
In an interaction, Warne had told Australian football manager Ange Postecoglou that he was not a fan of sports science and took just one ice bath.
"I often think how I would approach it. I was pretty much best when fresh. I wasn't big with all the sports science side of things," Warne told Postecoglou, who led Australia to back-to-back FIFA World Cup qualifications, and is at the helm of Celtic where the team currently sits atop the Scottish Premiership table.
"Watching today, the matchups and all these things, the data -- as a head coach I've experienced it, working through that I've said, that's all fine, but where is the feel for the game? Warne, who had one of the best cricketing brains, said: "I'm happy to listen to you in sports science and say, 'this guy is bowling a lot of balls, he's 50/50, he's bordering on his red zone'.
And I'm going, 'Ok, we will get someone else'.
"Then they go 'Hang on, he's our best player'.
I said, 'Well this is an important game, how do you say this one game is just as important as the next one.
They're all important.'
"So, I struggle a little bit with the sports science."
It was only during the extreme Sharjah heat where temperature soared up to 56 degrees Warne took his only ice bath.
"I only ever did one ice bath (as a player). It was 56 degrees. It should've been called off, it was that hot," Warne remembered about the 2002 Test against Pakistan in Sharjah.
"A couple of the fast bowlers had the jelly legs after one over. They had to go off, it was that hot.
"We came in afterwards (to the ice bath), when we jumped in a few of the guys started putting the beers in. It was like having a beer in the ice bath.
"This modern-day recovery, matchups, data, sports science, I'm not sure. I would've said just let me be."
Warne had a match haul of eight wickets as Pakistan were bowled out for 59 and 53 -- their lowest ever Test score at that time -- as Aussie completed an innings and 198 run win in the second Test.
"If I didn't perform, then you can have a go at me. I always believed there are a few things really important to reach the top. A lot of people talk about 'in the zone'. To me, 'in the zone' is 100 per cent concentration on what you have to do right now.
Right now, what does the team need you to do.
"The only way you can get into that zone is if you've cleared everything out before you had to play.
There was a physical preparation I always had to do...but the mental side, I think we've only touched the surface of the mental side of things, of how to approach sport.
"Sometimes we fill out players with too much stuff, we don't let them go and play."
Wanted to coach England following Ashes rout
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The legendary legspinner had once confided to his friends, weeks prior to his death, about his interest in coaching England, especially after their 0-4 Ashes rout.
"I'd like to do it, it's a great time to be England coach...I think I'd do a pretty good job," Warne, who had won the first IPL title as captain-cum-coach of Rajasthan Royals in 2008, told the Sky Sports cricket podcast last month.
It was after Chris Silverwood was sacked and the likes of former Australian coach Justin Langer, South African great Gary Kirsten and English assistant Paul Collingwood were considered leading contenders for the post.
"There"s a lot to work with. There are so many good players in England and a lot of depth, but you’ve got to get some of the basics right," Warne had said.
"You can’t bowl no-balls and drop so many catches, but you’ve got the players, they’re just not performing."
Warne had said that he would like to have the title of "team manager" and his coaching tenure would be marked by "honesty" with the players.
Several people, including Warne's long-time manager James Erskine, confirmed his coaching desire was genuine.
- Reported by PTI
