Shane Warne explained what made the Ball of the Century so perfect

Shane Warne gave a fascinating insight into how he managed to pull off The Ball of the Century.

In his esteemed career, the Australian hero proved himself as one of the greatest cricket players of all time.

Shane Warne knew he needed to spin the ball as far as he could

On June 4, 1993, during the second day of the first test in the Ashes, at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, spin bowler, Shane Warne, stepped up to the plate to go head-to-head with Mike Gatting, and produced something so miraculous, it’s gone down in the sporting history books.

After a slow run-up, the athlete rolled his right arm over and delivered a leg break to his right-handed opponent. Initially, the ball looked like it was heading right down the middle. However, it soon took a turn, with the rapidly spinning ball veering to the right, before landing and then spiralling left, leaving the batsman in no man’s land, as it smashed into the stumps.

The Englishman was completely bemused, desperately struggling to figure out how his rival managed to pull it off. His face was one of complete and utter shock, with the commentary perfectly summing up his emotions.

The analyst said: “Gatting has no idea what’s happened to it. He still doesn’t know.”

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Capitalising on the momentum, Warne continued to showcase his class, taking an impressive total of 34 wickets at an average of 25.79, en route to a comfortable 4-1 victory, in which he was named the Australian Man of the Series. 

The moment was truly historic, with Warne candidly opening up about what his tactics were and the thought process that occurred right as the ball left his hand.

As per Sporting Sensations, the legend explained:  “Looking at it, it’s the perfect leg break. It’s what you dream about as a leg spinner, to bowl that all the time. I was bowling to Mike Gatting, one of the best players at spin in the world. I thought, ‘Right, just spin it as far as you can’. All I knew when it left my hand, was that it was a good ball. To do it with your first ball was a fluke. I never did it again.”

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