Speaking on the Betoota Advocate podcast, former Australia all-rounder Shane Lee told the story of how Steve Waugh joked that Shane Warne was “the kid at school with no mates” in the Australian dressing room during the 1996 World Cup.
Lee, the older brother of fast bowler Brett, played 45 ODIs for Australia between 1995 and 2001. He said: “I remember the ’96 World Cup. I was selected as a 23-year-old all-rounder. And Warney was really nice and took me in. He said, ‘It’s going to be the Shane show, you and me, the Shane show.’ And Steve Waugh pulled me aside and said, ‘How you going with Warney?’ I said he’s being really nice to me and Waugh said, ‘Do you remember when you were at school and there was a kid at school that had no mates and this new kid comes to school and that kid with no mates is all over that new kid? You’re that new kid and Warney’s the kid with no mates!'”
Waugh played 168 Test matches for Australia scoring 10,972 at an average of 51.06, while Warne took 708 wickets in 145 Tests, a figure only bettered by Muttiah Muralitharan. Waugh wasn’t yet Australia captain during the 1996 World Cup; he would take up the role for the first time in 1997.
“But Warney, he was the best cricketer I ever saw and played with,” added Lee. “A freak of a cricketer and a great cricket brain.”
The strained relationship between Warne and Waugh has come into the spotlight once more in recent times, with the former reiterating his claim that the latter was “the most selfish cricketer” he ever played with after seeing a stat about the number of run outs the former Australia captain was involved in.
Lee, 46, also spoke of Warne’s relationship with Stuart MacGill. MacGill, widely considered Australia’s back up spinner to Warne during the the 2000s played just 44 Tests despite his 29.02 average and 54.0 strike rate.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout] “They were chalk and cheese. But, I think there was a mutual respect between them, I think it really helped Macgill having Warney in front of him. Because people would always say to him, ‘Ah mate you could’ve been anything.’ But when Macgill was given the reigns at the end he imploded with it.”
