Put a sock in it Warney

Shane Warne is writing a new column in the Daily Telegraph. We should start by saying that we like Warney both as a player and someone who actually has an opinion in this rather bland age. The pure theatre he served up each time he began his 'run-up' to the stumps was at times captivating.

In his first column, Warney gives grudging praise to England following the spanking they handed out toAustralia in the World T20 final. Warne rightly suggests that with England "That feeling of being scared of playing Australia has disappeared". He also suggests that in Graeme Swann England "have a spinner who, when you examine every format of the game, is the best in the world right now" and even gives some faint praise to Kevin Pietersen saying that his Man of the Tournament award "will be great for his ego". 

However, Warney couldn't quite bring himself to be as generous to England's triumphant captain Paul Collingwood, who it would seem is not on the Australian leggie's Christmas card list. Warne has made a series of chippy comments about the Durham battler over the years and continually refers to Collingwood's MBE, which he received for playing in the final test of the 2005 Ashes series.

Despite the overwhelming evidence before his eyes of Collingwood's importance to England in all forms of the game and his inspired leadership in the Caribbean, Warne says in his column "I still stand by what I have said about him (Collingwood) in the past. He should hand back his MBE. He didn’t earn it. No way. But he has improved as a player. He is now more daring and prepared not to be just a dour bits-and-pieces cricketer".

Is that the same 'bits-and-pieces' player who scored 206 against you in the Adelaide test of 2006? Or the same player that won the one-day series against Australia in 2007? Or even the same player who was the inspiration behind England's nine wicket down draws at Cardiff, Centurion and Cape Town in the last 12 months?

Just put a sock in it Warney. Yes, it was not really justified that all the England players, Collingwood in particular, should have been awarded MBEs in 2005. But it happened, get over it. In any case, Collingwood's exploits since and his now being the ginger Bobby Moore or Martin Johnson, means that if any sportsman really deserves such an accolade, he has well and truly merited it now.

Comments

[Wes]

Even Geoffrey Boycott's grandmother could make 206 in Adelaide, with a rhubarb stick. And yes the P.O.T.T. will stroke KP's ego *shudders*. Truth also spoken about Swann.
That Colly stuff sounds a bit weird though. Ageing men often stick to their views just for the sake of sticking to them.

[Aswin]

Oh, who listens to Warnie? Are there no "Collingwood for PM" chants yet?

[Mahek]

I have never quite got the fascination with KP's ego. I guess I'm one of the few alongwith David who thinks KP is one of the most professional cricketers around and that he has a lot to offer as a senior member of the England side. As for Collingwood's MBE, I guess he shouldn't have got it as he played just one test in that series. That said, I'm pretty sure the Aussies or anyone else would have done the same thing.

[Mock Wah]

"PC for PM" There you go Aswin :)

[The Reverse Sweep]

...and I should know about aging men sticking to their ideas! Fair point about the difficulty in getting a big score at Adelaide, but Colly did get those runs and played Warne fairly comfortably throughout that series (if not Stuart Clark!). I think KP gets a bad press that he doesn't really deserve. He comes across as humble in interviews talking as much about the team as himself. He certainly works hard and if he can appear to be a little arrogant at times on the pitch with that immense talent, I suppose it isn't really a surprise

[The Reverse Sweep]

Given the UK has its first coalition government since World War II, I wouldn't be surprised if the Colly for PM bandwagon doesn't start up soon!

[The Reverse Sweep]

Ok Mahek that's two of us in the 'KP is a good chap' camp. Any other takers?

[Mahek]

How exactly does a batsman appear "arrogant" at the crease? If we're talking about the Sir Vivian Richards' school of batting then I say every cricketer should look to be "arrogant" in his cricket. There is way too much criticism of KP from the mainstream media and a lot of bloggers seem to fall for it. I was quite pleased to see your post on him, especially the part about him getting his players to come back to India in 2008. I don't know if I would have wanted to tour a country that had just had such a major terrorist attack. In a way he's responsible for one of our most emotional test wins and I think Indians should thank him for that.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Totally agree Mahek. With all the furore about KP's short stint as captain people seem to conveniently forget the role he played in getting the side to go back to India after the Mumbai atrocity - hardly the actions of a selfish man. And if it wasn't for KP we'd still have Peter Moores in charge of the England team. And that would mean no Ahes and no World T20. When I said 'arrogant' it is probably more accurate to say 'supremely confident' and perhaps 'dismissive' of the bowlers. But you won't find me criticising KP

[MeikoElektra (The MG)]

@The Reverse Sweep - I'm in the pro-KP camp too. Although I hope that doesn't exempt me from making the occasional joke about him :P