In recent weeks the ABC have been running a thing about the best 40 Ashes moments of the last 40 years and, as you can imagine, on Shane Keith Warne features regularly.
We are creeping up on the anniversary of David Boon’s classic catch for a hat trick, there is the 700th test wicket bowling Andrew Strauss and that ball where Mike Gatting looked like he would spend the next three years working out if he was left or right-handed.
Warne certainly brought a lot of joy to people during his playing days. 708 test poles and another 293 in ODIs but in recent days, weeks, months, years he has been nothing short of a pest.
In this blog, I’m calling for a boycott of Shane Warne until he can grow up and treat match officials with respect.
I’m not going to watch/listen to any coverage he is involved in, read a column, removed him from twitter and will not vote for one of his moments in the ABC poll.
Since retirement Warne has been searching for relevance, hooking up with Liz Hurley, being a Poker star, owning his own bar and bashing people who do not agree with him. He’s a bully. His attacks of match officials are disgusting and should be condemned.
In North West Tasmania over the past couple of weeks the top cricket competition has sent guys out to umpire second grade by themselves. Lower leagues would love to have two umpires in a game but apart from them myriad of reasons people do not umpire, copping cheap shots from people with the brain of the Cheshire Cat does not help.
The first rule of criticism/humour, which this goose tries to cover his lashing with, is punch up, not down. Umpires are a marginalised group and despite all the cliched lines of “there is no game without umpires” there is still people like Warne to take pot shots at the officials.
At TASSACC, we have a zero tolerance approach to umpire bashing.
This does not mean umpires are free from criticism. But this criticism must be tempered with research, understanding and humility. It can not come from a place of emotion, ego and ignorance. If there is to be criticism of umpires, it MUST add to the conversation so that education can take place.
From a coaches angle, understanding the Laws/Rules/Playing Conditions can only enhance a coaches knowledge of the game and make for better coaching. I mean, if you don’t know the rules, how can you teach the game.
In my time umpiring more than 300 games of cricket from under 13s to WNCL, I have found that the bets coaches are the ones who speak to the umpires, the best captains asked poignant questions and the best players want to understand the game. One coach in particular is now an assistant coach with the Melbourne Renegades WBBL, Harry Nichols. Harry would go close to driving umpires crazy with questions of Laws and Playing Conditions in a never-ending quest to improve his knowledge of the game. The complete opposite to Warne – a smart operator.
Harry was not immune to questioning a decision but would always do so with respect, understanding and often with a touch of humour.
Now, I can’t asked you to completely delete Warne from your lives, but if you listen to those with passion for the game instead of passion for their own narratives, you will find the umpires/referees/tech officials/judges are not people to sink the boots into. They are people who love the sport. Can you imagine standing for seven hours in 47 degrees in Adelaide in January in and under 17 game for cash? Hell no, you do it because you love the game. Who is Warne to question the motives of someone who loves something? It’s no different to saying someone’s wife is no good or that back cat lolly lovers are wrong. Don’t question love Shane.
Oh, before I sign off, on the subject of punching up, Cricket Australia needs its bottom smacked for allowing Warne the freedom to belt the guts out of the umpires without any censure. Come on CA, you claim to care about the umpires, where is the demonstration of this?
