Australian legends Shane Warne and Steve Waugh are two of the greatest cricketers who have won a lot of accolades together for their country, but their relation off the field isn’t good at all.
The bitter relationship between Warne and Waugh off the cricket field is well known to everyone, as the two haven’t even seen eye-to-eye for a number of years despite playing together for Australia.
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Last week, legendary spinner Warne poured fuel on the long-standing feud with Waugh by calling him “easily the most selfish cricketer that I ever played with”.
A few days later, Waugh reacted to his former teammate’s comments by saying that “People keep saying it's a feud. But to me, a feud's between two people. I've never bought into it, so it's just one person. His comments are a reflection of himself, nothing to do with me. That's all I'd say.”
Well, now Mark Taylor, a teammate, and captain to both Warne and Waugh, has opened up how the feud between the two legends started.
He revealed that Waugh’s decision to pick spinners Colin Miller and Stuart Macgill over Warne in the 4th and final Test during the 1999 series against West Indies led to the spin king’s bitterness for then captain, saying Warne has never forgiven Waugh for dropping him during a form lapse.
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Taylor told Channel 9’s Sports on Sunday (May 24): “They’re not best mates, there’s no doubt about that. But when they played together … they were fine. Steve had to make a decision for the last Test against the West Indies in 1999 between his two leg spinners … Warnie was coming back from a shoulder injury and not bowling at his best.”
He continued, “For the final Test match, Steve went with [Stuart] MacGill and left Warne out, and that certainly irked Shane Warne at the time, and I don’t think he’s ever forgiven him.”
The former captain also admitted that Waugh didn’t make the right decision saying he would have backed Warne in the final Test match.
He signed off by saying, “If you had to make a decision between the two leggies, which I think Australia had to do at that stage because Lara was playing so well, I’d have gone for the guy who’s been great for so long, even though he wasn’t at his best. Must-win game, I would’ve gone with Shane Warne.”
(With Channel 9’s Sports/ The Age Inputs)
