Africa-Press – South-Africa. Andrew Hudson was once on the receiving end of one of Shane Warne’s most infamous, most vicious sledges of all time.
Breathing fire, Warne screamed, “**** off. Go on, Hudson, **** off out of here!” at Hudson after bowling the batter around his legs during the first Test in Johannesburg in 1994.
Warne, who wrote about the incident in his book My Autobiography, apologised to Hudson after giving him the “send-off”.
Even for the “sledging era”, the incident was deemed over-the-top enough to be fined by the match referee and the Australian Cricket Board.
“Today, I still don’t know why I did it,” Warne confessed.
Hudson said Warne relished that confrontation and wanted to see if he could win the psychological battle before winning the war on the pitch between bat and ball.
And that whatever you did, you needn’t have shown him you were rattled.
“He would use sledging [as a tool], and if he rattled you, he would carry on,” Hudson tells Sport24.
“But if you ignored him and carried on with your game [you’d be OK]. Some international cricketers used to take him on and get cross and shout back at him.
“In a way, he used to love that because then he knew he was on top and he was winning.
“Some guys used to smile, walk away and just carry on. At the end of the day, your bat must do the talking. If you scored a hundred, then you’ve won.
“But he was always there to get you out, and he loved it. And he got you out often. He kept reminding you that he got you out often.
“I think cricket would be poorer without someone like Shane Warne. He brought energy, excitement, and he was a skilful player – he talked a good game, and he delivered a good game as well.”
Shane Warne and South Africa: A love-hate saga
Warne became the second-highest wicket-taker of all time (708 wickets, average 25.41) behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800) before his retirement in 2007.
He also never lost a series against South Africa (four in Australia, four in SA), claiming 130 scalps in a career that began in 1992.
“I think I know him well enough to have played six Tests against him and what a competitor,” says Hudson.
“He was someone that you felt, when you batted against him, you actually had to come to the party. You had to pick up your game and be on song. Basically, be the best that you could be.
“He was an incredible bowler. His best attribute was this huge variety of deliveries that he could bowl, but he rarely gave you a full toss or a bad delivery.
“More than that, he was a huge competitor. Yet, as competitive as he was on the field, off the field, he was the nicest guy you would meet. He’d give you his time.”
Cricket South Africa (CSA) also paid tribute to the great Proteas tormentor.
“Warne was one of the finest cricketers the game has seen. It was not an accident of history that he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2013. He was a legend of our great game, to which he gave so much, and still had so much to give. He was an inspiration to aspiring cricketers,” said acting CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki.
Board chairperson Lawson Naidoo added: “Warne’s passing has brought an early winter to the hearts of his fans in South Africa and across the globe. He leaves behind a monumental legacy from whence all cricketers should draw comfort and inspiration.
“On behalf of Cricket South Africa, I send heartfelt condolences to Cricket Australia, with the assurance that we share in their pain, especially after the passing of another cricket great, Rod Marsh.”
Warne died of natural causes on holiday in Thailand on Friday.
He was 52.
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