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7th March 2022
12:47pm GMT
"He was a player that scaled the heights. He had his issues off the field, but he changed the game of cricket. "There was someone on the radio - I was listening the other day - he said that when he went to school, everyone was trying to bowl leg-spinners. They spent most of their time trying to get the balls off the top of the nets, because they couldn't bowl them. He did a trade that was physically the opposite of what you're supposed to do, for a long period of time, and became the top Test match wicket-taker. "You know, I was lucky enough to meet him on a couple of occasions. I remember we had a net session, with the Wallabies, against the Australian side, when they were right at the top, and Warne was at the top. We had a guy called Wendell Sailor - he was a larger than life character. He was batting against Stuart MacGill, who was the other leg-spinner. Wendell was coming in and smashing MacGill out of the nets. "Warnie grabbed the ball and winked to the guys behind him, and said, 'Watch this'. He gave him two [deliveries] flat enough, and Wendell smashed him. Then he bowled a bit shorter, a bit faster and he was bowled. Then he told Wendell to go where he needs to go! I thought it was a great little insight into such a wonderful sportsman."Jones has lost Jonny Hill and Raffi Quirke from his squad, for the upcoming match with Ireland, and Alex Dombrandt is a doubt after testing positive for Covid, last Friday. The England coach has made Ireland, coached by Andy Farrell, firm favourites for Saturday's game at Twickenham.
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