Shane Warne continues attack on 'sickening' Aussie obsession

sam goodwin

Sports Editor

Mon, 11 May 2020, 1:37 am·3-min read

Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting, pictured here speaking to the media in Sydney in January. — Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting speak to the media in Sydney in January. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Shane Warne has once again slammed Australian cricket’s obsession with the prized Baggy Green cap.

The spin legend recently auctioned his Baggy Green for bushfire relief efforts, raising over $1 million for those affected.

But as much as he cherished paying cricket for Australia, Warne never actually liked wearing the Baggy Green.

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The 50-year-old preferred to wear the white floppy hat because it was more comfortable and protected him from the sun.

Warne has expressed his disdain for Australia’s love affair with the Baggy Green on a number of occasions over the years, and he did so again on Saturday.

“I always believed that you didn’t have to wear the Baggy Green cap to say how much you loved playing cricket for Australia,” he said on Triple M.

“I loved playing cricket for Australia, and I didn’t need to wear that cap or have that verbal diarrhoea about it, I just enjoyed playing cricket for Australia.

“I always felt that if I wore a white floppy hat or wore my Baggy Green cap it meant exactly the same, I was playing for Australia.”

A number of Australian cricket greats talk about the importance and symbolism of the Baggy Green in Amazon Prime’s recently-released documentary ‘The Test’.

But according to Warne, it’s “verbal diarrhoea”.

“There was too much verbal diarrhoea about the baggy cap … it was a bit too over the top for me,” Warne said.

“The stuff that they go on about, the fabric of the Baggy Green and all this stuff that they go on about, I don’t sign in and buy into that.

“But as a whole, it was a fantastic documentary.”

Shane Warne, pictured here with his Baggy Green cap after raising over $1 million for bushfire victims. — Shane Warne poses for a photograph with his Baggy Green cap after raising over $1 million. (Photo by Daniel Pockett - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images )

Shane Warne slams ‘sickening’ obsession

Warne previously slammed Steve Waugh after the former Australian captain insisted his players all wear the Baggy Green for the first hour of a Test match, describing the policy as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘silly’.

He also refused to wear the cap during a team outing to watch Pat Rafter in the Wimbledon final during the 2001 Ashes tour of England.

“I didn’t need to wear it to bloody Wimbledon, which was just sickening, that they’d wear it to Wimbledon,” Warne said on Saturday.

“I actually refused, myself and Mark Waugh refused, but some of those other guys, yeah, they wore it.

“Sitting at Wimbledon in your green Baggy Green cap, come on mate, please. That was embarrassing.”

Shane Warne, pictured here refusing to wear the Baggy Green with Steve Waugh at the 2001 Wimbledon final. — Shane Warne refused to wear the Baggy Green with Steve Waugh at the 2001 Wimbledon final. (Image: Gary M. Prior/ALLSPORT)

But Australia's all-time leading Test wicket-taker insists not wearing it as much as some players should not be interpreted as not loving it.

“I cherish the Baggy Green and love what it stands for,” Warne told AAP in January.

“I was not a big wearer of the Baggy Green ... but that doesn't mean it didn't mean everything to me.

“Playing for Australia was something unbelievable. I carried it around for 17 or 18 years in my bag.

“I thought the gesture for me to put it up there (for auction) because it meant so much to me, (showed) how much it's (the bushfire disaster) touched all of us.”

with AAP