Jackson Warne has again shared some heartbreaking memories of his famous father, Shane, while also opening up on life without the Australian cricketing icon.
Speaking exclusively to Channel 7’s Mel McLaughlin, Jackson said it was always tough to go through the Christmas period without Shane, but the Boxing Day Test and the MCG also brought up many “happy memories”.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jackson Warne opens up on Shane’s legacy.
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“I especially remember when I was really young I was always hiding somewhere under the ground with my DS or Gameboy, either playing Mario Kart or some sort of Pokemon game, and I always remember hearing a really loud noise and look at the TV and it was always dad,” he said.
“They’re always the memories I can remember and it was just so cool to see my dad grow throughout his entire career … (as a) player and commentary role and sort of this figure that the current players would look up to for advice.”
MM: When do you think that you realised that your dad was a mega-star?
JW: I always knew dad was massive but I never let that get to me because I wanted to look at dad as dad. When he started coming out with his book and documentaries and going on all the tours after he retired, I got to step back and look at him, not as like a cricketer, but as somebody that has just completely transcended his sport.
MM: You’ve always referred to him as your best mate, haven’t you?
JW: We’ve always been and we’ll always be best mates. I’m so lucky to go to the Dunhill with him, which is a golf tournament over in Scotland. I would be his sort of caddie. I didn’t know how to play golf, didn’t know how to read the yardage. I had no advice for him. But he wanted me to be there with him and I wanted to be there with him. And so he’d always find a way to make it work.
MM: It can’t be easy, though. How are you three going?
JW: We’re good. Obviously Christmas Day and Boxing Day is sad, and it’s sad looking at the stand and it’s sad looking at the stand and sad looking at the statue (of him) and wishing he was still there. But I think me Brooke and Summer, and everybody around him, really want to celebrate his life now and I never saw dad sad ever.
JW: I never saw him cry. I wouldn’t expect him to think that I should cry just because I’m sad or to cry because he’s not here. I think he would always want me to be strong and always me to be positive. I think, especially, me Brook and Summer, that’s what we’re trying to do.
MM: Did he ever try to teach you how to bowl?
JW: Of course. Dad was never the dad that would say, ‘Jackson, here is your cricket ball, we’re going to bowl 100 overs, you’re going to bowl leg spin and this and this’. He honestly would just want to see me happy. There was actually one moment in COVID, in 2020, when we went went down local cricket nets and me and dad took maybe 20 cricket balls.
JW: We bowled for about three or four hours and I said, ‘Alright dad, I want you from the start teach me like I’ve never bowled leg spin before. I want you to try and get me to bowl leg spin’. And we actually started to (attract) a little crowd because people would walk past with their dogs and say, ‘Is that Shane?” And they would connect the dots. And one thing I didn’t realise is how hard it actually is to do. How you are able to spin your wrists so much and your shoulder and your feet all at the same time to make the ball spin from here to here was amazing. But I’ve got a lot of memories dad trying to teach me leg spin but he never forced me to do it.
MM: He was a genius.
JW: He was a genius. He was the pinnacle.
MM: What is his legacy for his family and his friends?
JW: I think if you had asked me that question before he had passed, I’m a bit biased, but I would have said the greatest ever Australian athlete. A record breaker. Probably no one will ever get that record. Changed the game, and did so much for the sport of cricket, made it fun, made it entertaining. But since the news of his passing and especially for the first six months after he passed, hospital, GPs and media, they actually came up with the term the ‘halo effect’. The halo effect was people going to their hospitals and GPs, getting their hearts checked, because they heard of the news of dad’s passing. Especially since we’ve launched the (Shane Warne) Legacy (heart tests), I would say that his legacy is now saving lives. We’ve managed to turn a negative into a positive and to see so many people still lining up today just to get their hearts checked for Dad and for their friends and family, is pretty special. We know, for a fact, that there is a handful of lives that we have saved.
MM: He was a generous man, and most people wouldn’t have known half the stuff he did.
JW: He was so generous with his time and with his energy and, even with his passing, he’s generous with his name and image and reputation in saving lives. Having the Shane Warne Stand there, having the statue, having us here and having us talking about him, having the machines here — I think, it just shows how many people still want to remember him and to how many people still think he’s still here.
MM: We all feel his presence. We all loved Warnie, none more so than you and your siblings and of course your whole family, and we’re so grateful you’re always so generous with your time.