Of all the many thousands of balls Shane Warne ever bowled, there was none more famous than his introduction to Test cricket in England in 1993.
In a glittering career that brought Warne a Test hat-trick at the MCG, more than 700 Test wickets in total and more than 1,000 international dismissals overall, attention always returns to the ripping leg-break that spun from outside leg to clip off and leave Mike Gatting walking off in a daze.
In the wake of Warne's death in Thailand at the age of 52, fans and players alike have spoken and written on social media about the ball that bamboozled the former England skipper and made a sporting rockstar of the young Aussie with the shock of blond hair.
What of Warne's own memories? He spoke about his career with ABC's Tracey Holmes at the Chappell Foundation Inaugural Dinner in 2018, starting with THAT ball and the lead-up to that memorable moment:
"He [Gatting] missed a straight one, that's about it, really. But my first ball in the Ashes series, it was pretty special.
"I remember sitting with Merv Hughes on the plane and I asked him, 'What's an Ashes series actually like?'
"And I was expecting this wonderful answer, this spine-tingling stuff from Merv. And he said, "Put it this way, England are shit, we're sponsored by a beer company and there are rest days, so it's a great tour.'
"And I said, 'So that should be a pretty great series.'"
Warne recalled the team's first tour match after their arrival was against county side Worcestershire, with a line-up featuring star batsman Graeme Hick.
"Allan Border pulled me aside and he said, 'They've got this guy called Graeme Hick who's a terrific player, he's going to be playing a big part in the Ashes series – so make sure you don't bowl anything to him, just leg breaks. No flippers or wrong 'uns, or anything else, just leg breaks.'
"And I said sure, should be good enough [to get him out] anyway."
Despite that early setback, Warne was chosen for the first Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. England won the toss, and skipper Graham Gooch put Australia in to bat.
"Mark Taylor makes a good hundred, overnight we're about 6 for 230, 240. So the next day I thought I'm going to get to bat in an Ashes series for the first time and I'm going to have to bowl later in the day.
"So I had a nice early night – Merv grabs me and says, 'I know it's a big day for you tomorrow, let's just have a couple of beers at the bar.'
"About two or three o'clock [in the morning] ... after smoking like a green log, I'd had a couple, I managed to get to sleep before the big day, my first ever Ashes day.
"I get to the ground, a wicket falls, I go out to bat — I run Craig McDermott out second ball, we lose a couple of wickets, end of the innings.
"We go out to bowl, and Mike Atherton and Graham Gooch get off to a great start. And just before the lunch break Allan Border says to me, next over, that end [for you].
"So I went 'shit' and started to loosen up. Merv Hughes knocks over Mike Atherton, Mike Gatting goes out, so we have the lunch break.
"I'm sitting there at the lunch room thinking, 'Oh God I'm going to have to bowl after lunch.'
"So I mark my run-up, I look down there, Mike Gatting's on strike, I look at my field, it's pretty good. Graham Gooch is at the non-striker's end, he's just staring at me the whole time.
"I just get a little bit awkward, so I tell him in Australian, 'Hello', I look down, I'm at the top of my mark, Dickie Bird says play.
"I stand there and take a breath — I've got my mate here Merv at mid-off, I take a step … next I hear this, 'tss, tss' [next to me], I go, what?
"He goes, 'Bowl one of those flipper things first, they won't be expecting that.' I take another step, 'tss, tss'. What?
"The wrong 'un, the wrong 'un, the wrong 'un.' I said, 'I can knock you over with the wrong 'un but no-one else, just relax.'
"He says, 'Well hurry up and get on with it!"
"Take a step, sure enough Merv [whispers] 'tss, tss. Bowl one of those big-turning leg breaks.' I said, 'Mate, I just want to land it, I just want to land it.'
"[I] take a step, I'm away – bowl the ball, it comes down, curves a little bit in the air.
"Mike Gatting sort of follows the drift — if it had been food, he wouldn't have missed it – but he misses it, hits the top of off-stump, Ian Healy was down here somewhere on leg-side, so lucky it hit the stumps.
"I finished the over. At the end of the over, I was just starting to get my jumper, I got my cap off Dickie Bird and I was starting to walk down to fine leg.
"About half-way there I was starting to resemble David Hasselhoff in Baywatch [strutting]. As I get a little closer I'm starting to look like Pamela Anderson, I'm that pumped with that ball I've just bowled.
"And that was my first ball in England, so that was a good way to start it."
To see more of Shane Warne's recollections, watch the video below:
