Former Australian cricketer Chadd Sayers called out spin legend Shane Warne for his incorrect assessments and excessive criticism aimed at “his own Aussie players” over the years.
Warne has had a notorious habit of making assessments and remarks that he has later regretted. Two of the most telling recent examples of the same have come during the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 as he criticised the inclusion of Mitchell Starc and Usman Khawaja, only to be proven wrong by the two cricketers.
Before the series began, Warne went after left-arm pacer Starc, asking for his non-selection because of struggles with the ball in the previous summer against India. But the selectors persisted with one of their premier quicks, to which he responded brilliantly. Starc has taken 15 wickets from his seven innings at 20.80 per piece in the Ashes 2021-22 so far.
In a subsequent matter, when Australia lost their in-form middle-order bat Travis Head to COVID protocols for the fourth Test at the SCG, the think-tank brought in like-for-like replacement Khawaja. But Warne was in vehement disagreement with the move as he wanted allrounder Mitchell Marsh to be picked in the side.
As with the Starc case, Warne was proven horribly wrong once again, as Khawaja went on to make a significant hundred (137) in the first-innings, top-scoring for the side on his Test match comeback and allowing Australia to post a gigantic 416/8 declared.
Recognising the trend, Sayers wasn’t in the mood to miss an opportunity to call out Warne, who seemingly doesn’t have a great relationship and repute with the players within the Australian set-up.
“Shane Warne keeps bagging his own Aussie players. Went hard at Starc – Wrong and now Uzzie – wrong #shutup,”
tweeted Sayers on January 6 after Khawaja completed his magnificent century in the New Year’s Test at SCG. Sayers, a South Australia veteran, played one Test for his country back in 2018.
Another former Australian cricketer Ryan Harris agreed with Sayers:
Warne made his much-awaited response to Sayers’ tweet on January 7 after finishing his broadcasting duties for Day 3 of the New Year’s Ashes Test at SCG.
Seemingly desperate to have a go back at Sayers, the former wrist-spinner said all he meant is that he would prefer bowling to Khawaja and not Marsh in current form, and also made a contentious remark against Sayers’ speed during his playing days.
Sayers, who got a solitary Test for Australia, is one of the finest Australian first-class cricketers with 320 wickets in 85 matches at an average of 26.51.
Funnily, a fan below Warne’s tweet made it a point to remind him through a scorecard that Sayers has actually gotten Marsh out for a duck in a domestic game.
