Even if that were true, that would give him one more than a lot of the gender confused, salvering puppies standing in judgement of his personal life here.

Its kind of bizarre, watching some of the emotional train wrecks judging someone else’s personal life or intellectual ability.

He asked me to convey a last message to you all on his behalf. He posted in defence of Mr Warne because “a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do�.

That was his last message to me too, all those years ago. He said he was defending President John Fitzgerald Kennedy at the time.

He told a later “Mrs Jackson” that he died defending Rod Stewart.

Join the club, Jane honey.

Way to go, Jet.

In his last message by radio to me Jet said he was hit by a high flying Mk7b Koedt-Solanas-Dworkin Femotronics Strapdown Inertial Advanced Monogamous Seeking Homing Air to Air Missile while on patrol. He went down in flames.

Shit, eh? I thought they were still working on that thing.

Now Jane, dear, I know that’s where he said he was. But are you sure?

Oh, pigs arse.

He went quietly, like a real man. He was always the strong silent type. He asked me to convey a last message to you all on his behalf. He posted in defence of Mr Warne because “a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do”.

(Mrs.) Jane Jackson

Just sayin…

I wonder if anyone has told him that sportsmen stay retired for a long time. And unless an ex-sportsman develops another skill, life starts looking pretty dull

.

Papers here in London are all talking about him taking up a commentary position with Channel 9. Seems like a no-brainer, really. Obviously if he can convince as many women as he has to fool around even with the tabloid reputation, the man possesses charm. He should do well.

I didn’t want to suggest that Shane Warne was anything more than an an entertaining buffoon with one extraordinary skill.

That such a skill is so marketable isn’t a commentary on Shane Warne. Good luck to him for having the right skill at the right time.

I wonder if anyone has told him that sportsmen stay retired for a long time. And unless an ex-sportsman develops another skill, life starts looking pretty dull.

No, what I meant to say is that Shane Warne public persona is a rough draft that is shaped and focussed by the tabloid media.

Like all celebrities Warne’s persona is tailored to stimulate certain compulsions. Warne’s persona is the easygoing pants-man whose exploits pullulate in the terminally adolescent mind.

Rather, he leaves the game as a man that has and will continue to inspire children to adopt leg spin, a black art that was on its knee’s as cricket moved from 5 day tranquility to the modern and popular 50 over cracket. This man has the ability to mentally torment the world’s finest willow wielders at 85kph, with guile and cunning, not the 155kph weapons that became the norm for the leather flingers.

And as for his off field indiscresions, no doubt that began with the development of the reptilian brain (thanks katz) many eons ago.

Similarly, Donald Bradman, for all his batting genius, could not have matched Graham Hick batting on a flat pitch.

The theoretical physicists deeply regret that it has never proved possible to have Caddick bowling in a dead rubber to Hick batting on a flat pitch, thereby providing the chance to find out what would happen when an irresistible force meets an imovable object.

But in the actual case of Warne, I think his sexuality, while being per-dominantly about self-gratification, is also about mutual gratification. i.e. that he would often txt women he hardly knows, after the act – and want to discuss how good the sex was – shows he cares about his performance and wants reassurance that he was a good lover, and although that reassurance is about bolstering his own self-worth, he is, by these acts, acknowledging the mutual nature of the act, and that the power doesn’t rest with him alone. That is a far way along the corridor from Bluebeard, surely.

On field, he is a true intellectual. As a cricket tragic, I’ve watched Warne in detail for the last 15 years, and observed his cricket brain at work. His concentration and ability to predict what’s about to happen is unrivalled. Put simply, his decision-making is impeccable.

Compare this to the off field Warne, and there’s quite a difference. If the on field Warne is defined by his excellent decision making, the off field version is known for poor decision making, acting impulsively and poor concentration. Quite the opposite really.

David Brent: “You’ll never get another boss like me, someone who’s basically a chilled out entertainer.”

Just saying.

People are hypercritical of sporting pros. It’s as if just because they excel in sport, they aren’t allowed to trespass into the realms of being human.

Well, yes and no – haven’t sporting heroes in this country always brought their whole personalities into their sportspersonship? Isn’t that part of the appeal? It’s not a profession and they don’t leave their social selves out of how they play thier games. My great-grandfather was a Test captain in the 1920s – by all accounts he was not a brilliant cricketer and certainly not a profound one – but his straightforwardness and honesty and lack of bullshit made him an attractive personality.

I like jo’s comment about Warne’s skill with his hands. Seems pretty perceptive to me. The same things that have gotten him in trouble outside the game elevated him inside of it. It will be interesting to see how he fares now.

My sources say not.

In a perfect world, of course, it wouldn’t be an issue.

You’re right of course.

*another blog crush bites the dust*