- Friday, May 03, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THEY both had been two of his fiercest competitors on the 22 yards but that did not stop England and New Zealand to honour Shane Warne during their first Test match which kicked off at Lord’s on Thursday (2).
The match was paused at the 23rd over to pay tribute to the legendary leg-spinner who passed away in March in Thailand due to a suspected heart attack. He was 53. Twenty-three was the jersey number of the cricketer who picked more than 1,000 international wickets in his career.
This is great tribute by the authorities to Shane Warne, pausing the game for 23 seconds after 23rd over as his jersey number was 23. pic.twitter.com/HoexqD37MU
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 2, 2022
A strong applause was dedicated to Warne lasting 23 seconds while a video was played with the title name ‘Remembering Shane Warne’. In the video, clips of Warne’s skills with the ball and acts on the ground were shown. The commentary box at the iconic venue was also renamed after the late Australian cricketer.
🏏 Nice to see…
The #SkySports commentary box is renamed the #ShaneWarne commentary box in honour of the late cricketer. pic.twitter.com/U0wCxrR7QZ
— Nathan Francis (@NathanFrancis__) June 2, 2022
“On the 4th of March, the game lost a cricket legend and the greatest leg spinner of all time. His legacy transcends cricket and even sports on and off the field in the commentary boxes and as a coach. He will be remembered as a cricketing genius, as a portal icon and as a simply one-off of a kind. His shirt number was 23 and for those able, please be upstanding for 23 seconds of applause for one of the greats of the game, Shane Warne,” it was announced at the Lord’s as players from both the teams and the spectators applauded.
Former Australia captain Mark Taylor, who is a commentator for the first Test and had played with Warne once, was quoted by Sky Sports as saying: “To have a commentary box named after you at Lord’s, where you tried to beat the old enemy, is a huge honour. It wouldn’t be lost on Warney and certainly won’t be lost on his family.”
On the ground, however, the Three Lions had a field day with the ball as they skittled out Kane Williamson’s side for a paltry 132 in 40 overs. Debutant pace bowler Matthew Pots took four wickets for England along with the veteran James Anderson.
However, the home team was also in trouble with the bat as they ended the day at 116 for 7, trailing the Kiwis by 16 runs with just three wickets in hand. Four seamers shared the wickets among them for the visitors with Tim Southie, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson claiming two scalps each.
Ben Stokes made his debut as England Test captain in this match which is the first of the three-game series.
Brief score: New Zealand 132 all out in first innings vs England 116 for 7 at Day 1 stumps
