Ball of the Century turns 25: Memories of the rise of Shane Warne the magician

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Bengaluru, June 4: 25 years ago on this day, Shane Warne entered the psyche of cricket lovers with a ball that became the gold standard for bowlers.

Venue was Old Trafford, Manchester, and the date June 4, 1993. Mike Gatting took guard against Warne, who was bowling for the first time in an Ashes series in England, who spun the ball across the Englisman to castle him, beating him with drift and spin.

Richie Benaud, the former Australian captain and legendary commentator, described the magical moment in his matter-of-fact voice. "First ball in Test cricket in England for Shane Warne," Benaud began.

"He has done it. He started off with the most beautiful delivery. Gatting has absolutely no idea what has happened to it and he still does not know....a raised eyebrow and a little nod that's all it needed," Benaud draw a simple picture of the 'Ball of the Century' in his inimitable way. (WATCH WARNE'S BALL TO GATTING BELOW)

Later former England captain Graham Gooch commented on the reaction of Gatting: "He looked as though someone had just nicked his lunch", as Gatting was much mocked for his rotundity.

This was further alluded to by journalist Martin Johnson, who said, "How anyone can spin a ball the width of Gatting boggles the mind, and again by Gooch who added, "If it had been a cheese roll, it would never have got past him."

In 2009, the Irish chamber pop group The Duckworth Lewis Method wrote a song called "Jiggery Pokery" about the Ball of the Century.

Till that point Warne had played 11 Tests for 30 wickets and his average was a less than flattering 30. Incidentally, Warne made his debut against India in Sydney in 1991 but Indian batsmen, particularly current India head coach Ravi Shastri, plundered him for truckload of runs in that Test.

But since that away series against England, Warne's career embarked on an upwardly mobile trip and it stopped with him bagging more than 700 Test victims - second only to the 800 scalps of contemporary Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka.

Warne is now busy with his autobiography - No Spin - which was slated for publication in October 2018.