LONDON: Australian spin bowling legend Shane Warne was named as one of the members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) World Cricket Committee on Wednesday.
The MCC has been renowned to be the custodians of cricket, playing a significant role in dictating the rules, laws, traditions as well as innovations surrounding the game. The committee meets twice a year at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s to discuss the most important issues in the game and acts as an independent voice in world cricket. It also features the likes of former captains Sourav Ganguly of India and Ricky Ponting of Australia.
Warne replaces fellow Australian Rod Marsh in the panel, as the latter has quit after being a part of it since 2012. The leg-spinner extends his association with England, having risen to fame in the cricketing world with the ‘Ball of the Century’ in 1993 in an Ashes Test match in Manchester.
He spent five seasons in county cricket with Hampshire, leading the side between 2004 and 2007. He was made an Honorary Life Member of MCC in 2009 and captained the opposition team, Rest of the World XI against the Sachin Tendulkar-led MCC at Lord’s to celebrate the Bicentenary of the ground in 2014.
Recently, Warne spent time in England promoting his much talked about autobiography, No Spin which was received well in the country.
“It is an honour to have been asked to be a member of the MCC World Cricket committee. It is an extremely exciting time for cricket and I hope that I will have plenty to offer in discussion and debate. I look forward to contributing to the work of the committee.”, the Australian said.
MCC World Cricket committee chairman and ex-England captain Mike Gatting, who was co-incidentally the victim of Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Shane on to the committee. Obviously his profile in the world game is as big as they come and with his extensive experience, I am sure he will offer great insights into many different facets of the game.
“I’d also like to pay tribute to Rod Marsh, who leaves the committee after six years. He has provided valuable contributions across a variety of areas and we thank him for his efforts.”
One of the key outcomes of the MCC World Cricket committee’s last meeting, which was held at Lord’s in August, included the suggestion that pace of play needs further scrutiny, with the idea of adopting a “shot clock” to help speed up play.
Since it was formed in 2006, the committee has made recommendations which have resulted in the introduction of pink ball day/night cricket in the Test match arena, the universal adoption of DRS across the international game, and a limit placed on the size of bats to help the balance between bat and ball.
