Warne the winner considers his future (21 June 1999)

21 June 1999

Warne the winner considers his future

Peter Deeley

A few minutes after winning his second man-of-the-match award in the World Cup in four days, Shane Warne revealed that he is thinking about his cricketing future.

After Australia's overwhelming win at Lord's, the leg-spinner admitted: "I have been doing a lot of thinking about my future. I am now going home to spend some time with my family and have a good think about where I go from here."

His captain Steve Waugh made a plea for Warne to carry on at international level. "It is up to him and I would never force anyone who wanted to stop. Shane and I have gone through a lot of tough times together and I would love him to keep playing for Australia. But it must be his decision."

Warne said that when he walked out on to the Lord's ground, the feel of the wet grass under his feet reminded him of the last World Cup final in Lahore when Australia were heavily beaten by Sri Lanka. "I wanted to make up for that this time."

He expunged those memories with four wickets here but emphasised he did not feel that he was under any pressure to answer his critics. "It doesn't bother me that some people may have written me off," he said.

Warne came back late last year after being out of the game for nine months recovering from a shoulder operation. When he was dropped from the Australian Test team in the West Indies, there was speculation that this might be the end for him. But with 20 wickets in this World Cup, which took his total in one-day internationals past the 200 mark, Warne feels that is his answer.

He admitted that the experience of recent months had taught him much. "Before, I felt that my learning curve was on a gradual upward curve. Now I feel it has gone through the roof."

Warne described the past week, with the narrow victory over South Africa followed by the demolition of Pakistan, as "the best of my life. It has been just sensational."

His captain added: "At one stage in this tournament, we were virtually down and out - enormous pressure on us. We went into games knowing that if we lost, we would be out of the competition and going home. But we hung on to every moment we could. I would put a lot of it down to inner strength.

"We couldn't believe we got out alive from the South African semi-final. Perhaps there was someone looking over us.

"We were pretty relentless today. We just strangled Pakistan. Whenever they played a false shot, they paid the price. We were in Pakistan's face all the time, always throwing the ball back to the keeper. They are a flamboyant side and we used discipline to put pressure on them. We knew that if we were as discplined as the South Africans, that pressure would tell on Pakistan.

"We knew there were young players in the Pakistan side; not a lot of experience. We did our homework and noticed that apart from the openers, no batsman had passed 50 in the last five games."

Waugh said he felt the victory was an answer to claims that the Australian side was "splitting up". He said: "This win was a vindication of the selectors' faith in these players."

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said Warne's bowling had made all the difference. "People were writing him off but for me, he is still the best leg-spinner in the world."

Wasim said Pakistan had been beaten by the better side. "They showed they are the best side in the world. I don't think we have let our supporters down. After the game, I thanked all the players for their efforts in getting us to the final."

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph