Adam Gilchrist has given the perfect insight into Shane Warne the master bowler, the fierce competitor and the man in a touching tribute to his teammate following his tragic passing at 52.
Gilchrist played the majority of his 96 Test matches alongside Warne and can thank him for a huge chunk of his Australian record 379 catches and 37 stumpings.
Like the rest of the cricket world a stunned Gilchrist was in mourning at the loss of his former teammate and Fox Cricket colleague.
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“I’m a bit numb and a bit stunned like everybody is feeling and expressing,” Gilchrist said on SEN radio.
“It doesn’t quite seem real. I suppose one thing we shouldn’t be surprised about is that Warnie never did things normally or by the book or you would say the fashionable way.
“He played his own game and it was a different game to everybody else. It was a different league. A different level.
“Like I said yesterday with Rod Marsh it is going to be a life that is well celebrated because geez he put a bit into it.”
Gilchrist had the best seat in the house to watch Warne’s magic and mastery of batsman for over 10 years in both Test and One Day International cricket and he gave a flawless summation of his unrivalled skill in the sport’s toughest art form.
“I’ve said it often that the greatest highlight of my cricketing career was to wicket-keep to Shane Warne,” Gilchrist said.
“To squat down behind the stumps and watch a just a maestro at work. He was a master and it all started at the top of his run-up and whether he started to walk in or paused long enough to get a bit of doubt in the batsman’s mind, who then pulled out of their stance to say what’s the problem? Then Warnie would start going in and say, “come on mate hurry up”. He would just start the mind games from that moment on.
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“His ability to execute the hardest art in our game. Anyone who has played cricket whether it is at the level we were able to play or club cricket or junior cricket, it is the hardest thing you can do is run in and land a leg-spinner perfectly.
“And he just repeatedly did it so often and so well and took it to a new level.
“There was a theory that Warnie didn’t train hard, but he did put so much into it. He put so much thought into it and he did have a god given natural talent and he knew that and he exploited it and drew everything out of it.
“The skill level was just exceptional.
“Stuart MacGill was a remarkably amazing leg-spin bowler, but Warnie just had that much more control and consistency and then the mindset as well to go with it.
“It was a powerful tool. The natural skill-set and the physicality matched up with one of the fiercest, toughest minds you could ever imagine. It made for the perfect project and we all enjoyed watching it.”
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Warne was a larrikin away from the field and was always up for a good time, which didn’t always paint himself in the best light.
However Gilchrist never felt that Warne’s antics away from the field ever had a negative effect on the teams he played for, with cricket his highest priority during his sortied career that saw him amount 1001 wickets across all formats for Australia.
“One of the most often asked questions of me say, ‘it must have been hard to reign Warnie in, did it ever have a negative effect on the team?’ Gilchrist said.
“Of all the off-field issues or the tabloids and headlines… it never did (have a negative effect), never once.
“Never once did it feel like his off-field stuff or his personality compromised what we were trying to achieve as a team.
“I really say that with conviction.
“Whatever team he was playing for, particularly if it was Australia, all he wanted to do was just do it as best as he possibly could.
“He was so committed to it, he just switched on.
“Half of us wouldn’t be able to leave our hotel room if we knew what was going to be on the front page or the back page, but Warnie had a way to get there and just turn the motor on.
“That’s an amazing mindset, so make of all the off-field stuff what you want, anyone can judge that, but he was just remarkable and just extraordinary, fun and loyal.”
Gilchrist perfectly summed up Warne’s legacy as a knockabout Aussie bloke who enjoyed his cricket and a good time with his mates after the day’s play.
“He was a contradiction in so many ways, but we are all just club cricketers and some are better than others,” Gilchrist said.
“Warnie just forgot that the whole world was watching. He was like a bloke that was playing for St Kilda down in 4th grade. Turning up with his mates every week. Going out for a night out. Having some fun. He just forgot that the whole world was watching because he was the best ever at what he did.”