Legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara has named Shane Warne as the best bowler he faced during his glittering career.
The West Indies legend played in an era of prolific bowlers but mentioned Warne alongside Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan when asked about the best bowlers he came up against.
Lara was speaking on The Overlap and Betfair‘s ‘Stick to Cricket’ show alongside Sir Alastair Cook, Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan, and when asked if Warne would be “one of the best you’ve faced”, the former batsman immediately responded: “He is the best.”
“I’d walk out to bat against Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan], and I’m confused. The first half an hour of Murali, I’d be confused, said Lara.
“Murali gave me more pressure than Shane. But I’d walk out to bat against Shane, the ball would be coming off the middle, every ball, and then about 2pm, 3pm, he just produces this magical delivery, or spell.
“And that’s why I rate him higher, because I think he was mentally stronger, and obviously with his bowling attack and the pitches that he bowled on, which favoured the McGraths [and other fast bowlers], for him to pick up that amount of wickets, [is] very special.”
Warne took 708 wickets across 145 Test matches for Australia between 1992 and 2007, and is widely regarded as one of the best bowlers of all time. He worked in various roles including cricket commentary after his retirement, but sadly died of a heart attack in 2022 aged just 52.
When asked by David Lloyd whether he “got on” with Warne, Lara replied: “Of course! We had a great time together”.
Lara, who scored a total of 11,953 runs across 131 Test matches, holds the record for the most runs scored in a single Test innings – having tallied 400 against England in Antigua in 2004 – and recently saw that record preserved after South Africa captain Wiaan Muller opted to declare on 367 against Zimbabwe.
Stick to Cricket will be release on a weekly basis, featuring Michael Vaughan, Sir Alasdair Cook, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and Phil ‘Tuffers’ Tufnell, and occasional special guests joining them
