Shane Warne Quits Hampshire
Quite a bold move, but if I’m honest it doesn’t surprise me in the least. Ever since he came over to play for Hants he’s taken them for a bit of a ride, saying he’ll only be over during particular dates, not playing in certain tournaments etc. Rod Bransgrove (Hants chairman) took it all though as Warne was a great marketing tool for him and the Rose Bowl outfit. And I’ll be honest, it worked to get me there a couple of times as watching the guy play did make you feel like you were watching a world class player.
However, ever since it was announced that he would miss the start of the ‘08 season to play poker (yes really), he went down in my estimation. Either you are a cricketer or a pro poker player, make up your mind and don’t play us all for fools, and sure as hell not this close to the start of the league season. Why has he taken until this point to say he’ll not play for Hants again? He was supposed to be happy where he was living and playing cricket, so something has come up, and its probably money..
Re-reading what I’ve written it seems a bit harsh on Warne as I understand that the Indian leagues and other stuff outside of cricket bring these guys a good retirement fund, but something about this announcement just seemed so inevitable I think I would have preferred to hear it early on, with all the cards on the table (no pun intended!)
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