Amazing Funny and Interesting Shane Warne's Career : Facts, Funny Incidents

WHAT we love about Shane Warne is his ability to stay in the news, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes deliberately as he is doing with the release of his new book, Shane Warne's Century, which is being serialised in Britain in The Times this week and, as is Warnie's want, makes very interesting reading. Warne, you may remember, caused some shock waves last year when he rated his 50 greatest cricketers, a list that had Sachin Tendulkar at No. 1, Brian Lara No. 2, Curtly Ambrose No. 3, Allan Border No. 4 and Glenn McGrath No. 5. Well, as the title of the book suggests, the world's greatest leg-spinner has now extended his list to 100 and, as he did with his original rankings, is sure to raise some eyebrows. Among them:

■ Jamie Siddons who surprisingly sneaked in at No. 50 in the first list suddenly finds himself No. 100 in the newest one. A fall from grace if ever there was one.

■ Likewise, Warne's good mate, former Victorian wicketkeeper Darren Berry, was at No. 49 and now finds himself languishing at No. 80. Gee, and to think they just shared a successful stint as partners in the inaugural Indian Premier League, too.

■ Mark Taylor, originally No. 9 (three in front of Mark Waugh), has swapped spots with him (Taylor is now No. 12 and Waugh No. 9.)

■ In all, 31 Australians make Warne's top 100, including Ricky Ponting (No. 8), Ian Healy (10), Matthew Hayden (15), Adam Gilchrist (16), Merv Hughes (18), David Boon (21), Steve Waugh (26), Bruce Reid (37), Michael Clarke (38), Michael Slater (39) Stuart MacGill (42), Justin Langer (46), Dean Jones (48), Damien Martyn (56), Tim May (57), Andrew Symonds (58), Craig McDermott (59) and Mike Hussey (60).

Arch-rival one minute, in his good books the next

SOUTH AFRICAN captain Graeme Smith didn't rate a mention in Warne's original top 50 but he's there now, at No. 44, possibly as a result of the two fierce rivals now being good buddies, a friendship struck up while playing together in the Indian Premier League. Writes Warne: "You can know an opponent as a cricketer, but you only start to know him as a bloke when you play in the same side. As it turned out, the Graeme Smith I played alongside for the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 was different to the Graeme Smith I faced in the Test arena. Any flies on the wall when we shook hands for the first time in Jaipur would have been disappointed … I just said, 'G'day, Graeme, how are you?' And he said, 'Great'. That was the reply I wanted to hear. We started talking about cricket, life, India in general and how the Royals could go on to win the tournament. At Test level, I reckon Smith could now be on the verge of something pretty special. South Africa have the makings of a side that can challenge Australia."

THAT Steve Waugh is below his brother was a surprise a year ago and remains so, but Warne insists there is no problem between them, that "actually in fact we're friends". Warne, though, does rank Waugh at No. 1 in another of his lists, calling him "the king of the one-liners". Writes Warne: "He was good for the odd comment in the field. He liked the gully position, and from the slips we could hear everything he said. He always went especially hard at Nasser Hussain. As soon as Hussain came in, Waugh would start talking about his dodgy technique and question his place in the side. That always made us laugh. Hussain could get wound up without much of an invitation, and I think we all thought he was a pretty easy target who got too emotional. Mike Atherton also copped a bit from Waugh, who would say things like, 'Do you think you'll manage to get it off the square today?'."

WARNE also tells a funny story about Indian batsman Virender Sehwag, one told to him by Englishman Jeremy Snape while Warne and Snape were working together in the IPL. Warne said Sehwag and Snape were batting for Leicestershire against Middlesex when Abdul Razzaq started reverse-swinging the ball in the way that the Pakistan bowlers do. Writes Warne: "Sehwag came up to Snape and said, 'We must lose this ball. I have a plan'. Next over, he whacked that ball clean out of the ground, forcing the umpires to pick another from the box that would obviously not reverse straight away. To which Sehwag said, 'We are all right for one hour'." Noted Warne: "Smart, I say."

Storm clouds (1)

NO WONDER Melbourne Storm is at loggerheads with the Sydney press as it continues its march towards back-to-back National Rugby League premierships. After accounting for Cronulla in last weekend's preliminary final, Sydney's Telegraph reported that as the Storm players were about to sing their team song in the dressing room, an official called out, "Open the doors so Ricky (Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart) can hear us". "Disgraceful," bellowed the Tele next day, adding: "The club that invented the grapple tackle has a lot to learn about sportsmanship and being graceful in victory or defeat."

Storm clouds (2)

STORM chief executive Brian Waldron didn't escape the paper's wrath, either. Describing him as "an embarrassment to rugby league in recent weeks" it added: "We have grave concerns about the game moving forward in Victoria with this out-of-control egotist running the show." Ouch!

End of the line

NOT only has Hawthorn returned as a footy force, but the club has also been buoyed by the way the Hawk faithful has embraced its new HQ at Waverley Park. And you don't get a better vindication of that than this. Club chief executive Ian Robson has revealed he recently received a letter, the first of its kind since the Hawks shifted from Glenferrie Oval, from someone who requested their ashes be spread at Waverley Park. Said Robson: "I thought that's almost the ultimate statement of authenticity."

Who said that?

I would trade 99 of them for a win.

MARK BRYANT, who will play his 100th NRL game for Manly in this weekend's grand final.