Five moments that made Shane Warne special

3. The hat-trick at the MCG (England vs Australia, 1994 Ashes)

Ashes 1994

England came into the match with a lot of players on the injury list – even their physio broke a finger during a fielding practice session. Warne had made life miserable for them in the previous year, with his ‘Ball of the Century’ that dismissed Gatting and later Australia to beat the Poms in their own backyard.

He was at it again at the MCG, after David Boon’s century pushed Australia to 320 in the second innings. England were struggling at 91/6 , when Warne came on to bowl.

His first delivery was a conventional leg-spinner to Phil DeFreitas; the batsman played it off the back-foot, the ball kept low and rapped him on the pads – a straightforward LBW decision.

The very next ball, Warne had Darren Gough caught behind by Healy – he added a bit of over-spin to the leg-break, bemusing the batsman. One more and he would have his hat-trick.

Warne turned to Damien Fleming, who had picked up a hat-trick against Pakistan at Rawalpindi a few months earlier. The pacer advised his colleague to keep it simple and bowl a stock ball. The spinner repeated the delivery he’d used to remove Gough, and Devon Malcolm responded like a typical tailender. He edged the ball, it went off his glove, and flew to a diving Boon at silly mid-on; the portly Aussie opener’s bulk belied his alertness and swift reaction.

Warne got his triple, and England suffered a massive 295-run defeat as they collapsed for a paltry 92. The Aussies would go on to win the Ashes 3-1, with one game ending in a draw.