BETWEEN WICKETS
It is impossible to be objective about death. If it involves an accident that ends a sportsman’s life prematurely, you think about his family; then you ask, did he live up to potential? That question can seldom be answered in the positive, for it is human nature to believe that the next event will be the determining one, the next assignment will establish the legacy.
Those who play sport at the highest level are judged by performance and not on potential. Once a career is over, there is no room for could-have-beens. Whatever problems the late Shane Warne had outside the sport, he will always count as one of the all-time greats, his 708 Test wickets testimony to that. Did he live up to potential? It doesn’t matter. What we know is good enough to guarantee him a place among the finest.