Pat Cummins honours Shane Warne with poetic tribute on his birthday

Pat Cummins, the Test and ODI captain of Australia, gave a poetic tribute to late leg-spinner Shane Warne on his 55th birth anniversary.

Warne, who is considered a spin-bowling legend, passed away on March 4 2022, after suffering a life-claiming heart attack in Thailand.

On the eve of his birthday, cricket.com.au released a heartfelt video, featuring Cummins reciting a poem. titled ‘Lightning in a Bottle: An Ode to Shane Warne,’ which was penned by Adam Burnett.

“In your mind’s eye still you see him, standing calm atop his mark. Ball in hand, it’s fizzing, as he looks around the park. He waits another heartbeat, points his fielders where to go. It’s all part of the magic act, it’s all part of the show,” Cummins recited.

“His walk begins, deliberate, it builds towards its height. He lets it go, the rest we know – has there been a better sight?”

Pat Cummins then acknowledged Warne’s place in cricket history, stating that the gentleman’s game will never be the same without him.

“But now it’s gone forever, our sport will never be the same. And so we ponder how to honour a true icon of the game. For where to start with Shane Keith Warne, that otherworldly gift?

“We could talk about the wicked spin, the endless flight, the drift. We could talk about the wickets and the bluster and the guile. We could talk about the character, the look, the hair, the smile.

“We could talk about charisma, a bush ballad come to life. We could talk about the dramas and the trouble and the strife. We could talk about the slider and the leg breaks and the flipper. We can contemplate a world in which he was full-time Aussie skipper.

“But single takes won’t encapsulate this giant of the sport. A Melbourne kid with cricket nous that simply can’t be taught. We’re reflecting on an icon here, Australia’s finest sprig of wattle. This is Shane Warne – the king – the lightning in a bottle.”

Credited with reviving the art of leg-spin, Warne took 708 Test wickets as part of a dominant Australian team in the 1990s and 2000s.

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