Shane “loved waiting for the roads to clear and getting on the other side of the road with a big Bobby Willis, his run up”. But there were also glimpses of the cricketer he would become: in his World XI teams, Shane liked to choose a pair of leg spinners. “He just chose Jimmy Higgs and Abdul Qadir to bowl leg spin.”
Whether it was Australian rules football, tennis or squash, the brotherly rivalry remained the same. “Anyone who knows Shane would say how competitive he is at everything,” laughs Jason. “Monopoly actually sparked some anger.”
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The first love of both brothers was Australian rules. Shane was a talented enough player to represent his beloved St Kilda at under-19 and reserve level. He was eventually released, Jason believes, because he wasn’t tall enough. “That’s one of the cruelties of sport.”
It seemed much more realistic to make it as an Australian rules player than to make it as a professional cricketer; there were just a lot more slots. But as his St Kilda dream lay dying, Shane’s cricket developed rapidly. Jason saw a transformation after Shane spent the English summer of 1989 – the year he turned 20 – playing for Bristol’s Imperial Cricket Club. It wasn’t just that Shane returned to Australia a little rounder, after spending a lot of time visiting pubs; he also came back with better control.
“When he came back he went from district third to district player and the following winter he was in cricket academy.”
Shane Warne’s booth at the MCG.Credit:Eddie Jim
Shane’s stay at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide was short; he was sent home for bad discipline. But he returned from Adelaide with a new knowledge of bowling the “flipper”, who went straight to cutting batters in half. At home, Jason recalls, “he showed us how to bowl the pinball – we were on our knees in the hall trying to bowl a pinball to each other”.
Even as Shane took his first steps into the professional game, the brothers’ tradition of attending the boxing test together continued.
“I remember going to the Boxing Day test in 1991,” Jason says, “all the way back in the nosebleeds, eating pies and drinking beer. And he said to me, ‘I could play the next test’. I just laughed and said, “Sure mate, whatever.”
Shane was right: after just a handful of Sheffield Shield matches, he made his test debut against India at the SCG. Back at the MCG for the 1992 Boxing Day Test, Warne announced his talents by taking seven for 52 to bowl Australia to victory against the West Indies: a prelude to what he would produce in England six months later.
When Shane delivered the ball of the century at Old Trafford, Jason was also in Manchester. Only he wasn’t on the ground.
“I was riding in a courier van in Salford Quays at the time and listening to it on the radio. I didn’t think he would go bowling before lunch, so I thought I’d work the morning and go down at lunchtime. The plan quickly changed: “I radioed the office and said I was done.”
Back home after their English sojourn – Jason worked and traveled around Europe while catching parts of five Ashes Tests – the brothers soon learned that things would never be the same again.
“I remember going to the pub to watch a Mike Tyson fight — just like us,” Jason recalled. “We sat in the pub for an hour and a half, I have to say two words to him because there are a few thousand people there who all just want to say hello. And he said hello to everyone and everyone was like, ‘I’m just saying hello, it’ll only take two seconds’, but if you have 2,000 people all taking two seconds, it takes an hour or two.
“But at the same time, he didn’t begrudge it. A big thing for him is that he remembered being a kid and having his autograph book. He actually had all his favorite athletes autograph and he practiced doing their autographs. So he was that fanboy himself. Once he became the star, there was no way he wouldn’t give back what he cherished so much.”
Shane Warne receives a standing ovation after taking his 700th test wicket at the MCG on Boxing Day 2006.Credit:Wayne Taylor
Still, Shane wasn’t quite prepared for what his game would bring. That couldn’t be anyone.
“I don’t think the amount that he had under his attention had been experienced before. So I don’t think he could have been prepared. I think he’s gotten better at it overall through his career.
In a more subtle way, life changed for Jason as well. He got used to seeing his brother constantly on TV or being talked about in Melbourne bars. “They’re talking about your brother and they’re nowhere near the truth.”
Once, sick of Shane being discussed inaccurately, Jason even interrupted a nearby table. Shane’s fame even influenced how much Jason could discuss his brother with his own friends.
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“You have to be very careful about what you say to your own friends. The relationship is a little different than your friends’ relationship with their brothers because he is away a lot. Everything is in the public eye.
“It was a little weird to begin with. But one thing that doesn’t completely change is how proud you are of him.
“Everyone who plays sports goes to bed dreaming of being in control of a big game at that big moment and delivering and the admiration. And it’s probably only once you start getting it a few times, it’s also a bit addictive. He loved that. But I think in a perfect world he would say, ‘I like it on the floor, but not when I’m living my private life’.”
While the Warne brothers bonded on the sports field as children, in adult life they bonded over poker and maintained a regular card school.
“Shane played a lot more than me. So I’m happy to admit he was better than me. But the way I had him is I knew he just didn’t want me to hit him,” laughs Jason. If I had a good hand, I could just bet it because I know, ‘You’re calling me’.”
Even as their lives took very different paths, the brothers remained close; Jason acted as Shane’s manager for several years. During this period, Shane faced one of the biggest crises of his career when he was suspended in 2003 for using a banned diuretic.
“Everyone knows it’s hard to take advice from your brother,” Jason chuckles. “I said to him at the beginning of his suspension: ‘Just don’t touch the ball. Go away, really let your body heal’.
“I said, ‘If you do well, at the end you’ll get two or three extra years that you wouldn’t get otherwise. So you’ll actually start playing more cricket’.
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Shane would break the habit of a lifetime and listen to his brother: upon his return, aged 34, he took 217 Test wickets at 24.75 apiece.
Of course, Shane was never shy about offering advice herself. “Every day,” Jason smiles. “It’s Shane advice.”
And so, as the boxing day cricket world will mourn a legend, Jason will remember Shane as his big brother.
“We loved turning each other on and knew which buttons to press. But underneath it all, we just wanted the best for each other.”
The Telegraph, London
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