Warne unveils weighty likeness
Newly-svelte Australian legspin legend Shane Warne joked that a hefty
bronze statue of him unveiled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Thursday
was a “lifelike” memento of his time in Test cricket.
Australian cricketer Shane Warne stands in front of a statue
of himself unveiled outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) in Melbourne yesterday. The 2.5-metre tall likeness by
sculptor Louis Lauman depicts leg-spinner Warne in full
flight and joins cricketers including Sir Donald Bradman,
Keith Miller and Dennis Lillee in having his statue erected
on the Parade of Champions outside the MCG. AFP |
“It’s 300 kilos that statue, it’s pretty lifelike for when I played,”
said Warne, who drastically slimmed down after he began dating his now-fiancee
Liz Hurley.
“It’s a great honour, it’s a bit weird seeing yourself up there, but
I’m very proud.”
The statue depicts Warne in his pomp - with earring, dated hairstyle
and paunch - and he joins 10 other Australian sporting greats including
cricketers Don Bradman and Dennis Lillee who have been immortalised
outside the MCG.
Warne, 42, reminisced about his best moments at the ground, including
his breakthrough 7-52 to beat the West Indies in 1992-93, his hat-trick
against England in 1994 and his 700th Test wicket in 2006.
Hurley and Warne’s children were on hand to witness him unveiling the
statue with the help of Mark Taylor, capatin for much of the spinner’s
Test career
“I’m glad we sat for there for about four hours measuring between my
nose and my ears, so thank you very much,” Warne joked with sculptor
Louis Laumen.
Rated one of the five best cricketers of the 20th century by cricket
bible Wisden, Warne took a pioneering 708 Test wickets in a 145-Test
career that made him the scourge of batsmen worldwide.
He bowed out of professional cricket with the Indian Premier League’s
Rajasthan Royals in May, only to announce his comeback last month with
the Melbourne Stars in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash League.
Known as much for his off-field antics as his prodigious cricket
talent, the formerly chubby smoker has always been sensitive about his
weight. AFP |