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‘Shane Warne The Muscial’ aims to bowl viewers over

A combination of pictures shows former Australian cricket player Shane Warne leaving a photo opportunity as a 3D image of himself, in white, appears upset by this in an attraction at the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Oct. 27. Using the latest in hologram technology, the virtual Warne takes audiences into the cricket ground’s changing rooms and shares the great moments of his career, including the infamous “Gatting” ball in 1993 at Old Trafford. PHOTO: AFP

Former cricket star Shane Warne’s checkered life has become the subject of a stage musical that might eventually tour England.

Eddie Perfect, author and performer in Shane Warne The Musical, said yesterday he hoped the Melbourne-based Warne, who was the leading all-time wicket-taker in Test cricket when he retired nearly two years ago, will come out to the theater to see it.

“No one knows whether he will come or not, but the show’s respectful and once he sees it I’m sure he’ll get it,” Perfect said hours ahead of its opening night at the Athenaeum Theatre One.

The musical traces Warne’s early life through to his meeting his now former wife Simone when she was a promotional girl for a beer company.

It also includes the so-called “Ball of the Century” that dismissed England captain Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series — Warne’s first Test — and his celebrated controversies over text messaging and relationship scandals.

“Such ridiculous things have happened to Shane Warne, incredibly good things and incredibly disastrous things — you couldn’t make this stuff up,” Perfect said. “We’re all human and we all make mistakes and if you take judgment out of it, I think it’s been a wonderful life.”

One song sums up Warne’s career when his character sings: “When the credits roll, what matters is how I bowled.”

Executive producer Kevin Whyte said he would like to take the show to London’s West End.

“I hope it could run for a couple of years and then hopefully there will be some interest in the UK,” Whyte said.

Shane Warne The Musical is later expected to tour Perth and Sydney.

Warne, now a cricket coach, analyst, Twenty20 exponent and poker player, recently expressed disappointment that producers had not sought his permission for the musical.
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