Warne takes centre stage again
A satirical show about Shane Warne's life proves he can draw a crowd anywhere, even if it left Australians uncomfortably aware of the void he has left on the field, writes Gideon Haigh in the Guardian .
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
A satirical show about Shane Warne's life proves he can draw a crowd anywhere, even if it left Australians uncomfortably aware of the void he has left on the field, writes Gideon Haigh in the Guardian.
In the climactic scene, Warne/Perfect cavorts with a fluorescent stump, à la the cricketer's uninhibited celebration of retaining the Ashes on the Trent Bridge balcony 13 years ago. Treading softly on to the stage, the man himself looked rather more abashed, mainly because this was hardly his crowd.
He was carried along by the attention, and perhaps also by the sheer improbability of it all — that he can still pull a crowd while not, strictly speaking, even actually having to be there. As the comedian and his muse stood arm in arm on stage, indeed, it was momentarily a selector's dream: two Shane Warnes! One could forget for an instant that Australia will next week take the field against South Africa with none.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo