It was early 1992. The possibilities of what you could do with a cricket ball on the pitch, and not in your backyard, were going to be redefined by a young, slightly unsure, blonde-haired debutant. The young man’s bowling figures in his first encounter with test cricket in Sydney showed little clue of what was to follow.
Perhaps his debut was as deceptive as his leg-rippers, floaters and sliders, which were going to fox countless batters on the pitch in the years to come. Shane Warne was on his way to an iconic 15-year career that saw him revive the art of leg-spin bowling with the mastery, elan and appeal of box office entertainment.
