'Thought How on Earth..': 30 Years on From Shane Warne's Ball of the Century, Mike Gatting is Still Perplexed

On June 4, 1993, Shane Warne did something extraordinary, the Australian spin legend widely referred to as one of the greatest ever spinners in the world etched his mark in the history books by bowling the ‘Ball of the century’ and 30 years on after that delivery, the batsman who was on the receiving end of it, Mike Gatting of England is still perplexed.

Warne, who sadly passed away in March 2022 inflicted one of the most famous dismissals of all time when he got the better of Gatting with an unplayable delivery during the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Coincidentally, it was Warne’s first-ever delivery against England, in the famed Ashes series, and the youngster cleaned up Gatting with his leg spin that has gone down as one of the most celebrated dismissals of all time.

ALSO READ| ‘It Will Suit Virat Kohli’: Former India Coach Fires Massive Warning to Australia Ahead of WTC Final 2023

During an interview with Australian media house SEN Cricket, Gatting looked back on the dismissal and recalled that he didn’t understand how the bails fell, and when he was declared out. He revealed one of the players told him he was dismissed and had to walk off subsequently.

The 65-year-old said, “When you’re being coached, the coach says have a look at the first ball, see what the pitch is doing how much it’s turning. I mean that didn’t help very much either.”

“I was talking to Warnie afterwards he said ‘Mate all I’m trying to do is try and get it down the other end, I didn’t know what was gonna happen when it pitched’,” he added.

The flight and turn of the delivery were so smooth that Gatting didn’t know when the ball clipped the bail. He thought that it was Australia’s wicketkeeper Ian Healy who actually by mistake took the bail off in his haste.

“It was just a phenomenal ball and the reason I was looking so pissed because I didn’t hear it hit the stumps. It just took the bail off. There’s only one of them on the floor, and I actually thought that Healy was hasty trying to get back from the leg side I thought somehow he just clipped a bail,” recalled Gatting.

He added, “The first sound I heard after facing the short ball is, ‘Mate you’re out! See ya later’ from Healy and then I saw this bail on the floor and I thought how on earth has that got there!”

Warne left many great batsmen spellbound and perplexed in his stellar trophy-laden career as he weaved his spin magic before he tragically passed away in rather mysterious circumstances while he was on holiday on an island in Thailand.