Everyone’s favourite Australian, Shane Warne, has landed in New York City, determined to do what no man before him has managed.
Teach Americans to like cricket.
Warne, who is 46 but these days looks not a day older than 30, has teamed up with other greatest player in history, Sachin Tendulkar, to play three matches in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles.
And his campaign has the backing of a former flame, the gorgeous Liz Hurley, who Tweeted yesterday: “In the US & love cricket? @shanewarne & @sachin_rt are captaining the #cricketallstars. Starting Nov 7.”
A thrilled Warne blew four Tweet kisses back at his ex, saying: “Hope you’re coming to see the games Ms Royal Queenie Hahahah !!!!! XXXX”
The spin king also got a shout-out from Coldplay, who urged people to go see a game.
Warne told the US media yesterday that the game wasn’t hard to play: it’s like baseball, he reckons, and that’s true, in that you hit a ball with a bat.
“But we haven’t got a mitt,” he said, flashing that diamond smile.
Warne will captain one of two teams in a new competition called The Cricket All-Stars; Sachin will captain the other side.
Between them, the two men have assembled some of the greatest players in history, including Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting.
The first match will be played this weekend at the home of the New York Mets, which just lost the World Series to the Kansas City Royals.
In interviews ahead of the competition, Warne told the website, Cricket.com.au: “If a young kid could pick up a cricket bat instead of a baseball bat that would be pretty fun. And who knows, we might even get our first American cricketer.”
He spent part of the day with sports writers from the New York Times, posting a picture outside their headquarters.
The matches will be broadcast in Australia on the Nine Network’s GEM channel.
Warne says he’s in this for the long-haul: he has signed 28 players for 156 games over three years and if the US doesn’t take to Warne’s game, he’s got offers from the Middle East.
