NEW DELHI: In the world of cricket, few names shine as brightly as Shane Warne‘s. A spin bowler whose mastery over the art of leg-spin transformed the game, Warne became an icon not only for his incredible skills on the field but also for his larger-than-life personality off it.
His journey from a young boy in Victoria to a cricketing legend is filled with anecdotes that showcase his talent, dedication, and, surprisingly, his unique dietary choices.
Growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Warne was a typical teenager, more interested in playing cricket than maintaining a balanced diet. As he entered his teenage years, he made a curious decision: he would not eat vegetables.
At first, it seemed like a phase, a teenage rebellion against the green foods that most parents insist their children consume. But as the years went by, it became a defining aspect of his life. From the age of 13 until he turned 30, Warne avoided vegetables altogether.
In a 2015 interview with The Times, Warne disclosed that he avoided eating any vegetables from the age of 13 until he turned 30.
“You know foodies? I am the opposite of a foodie,” Warne said.
However, Warne’s girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley, did manage to persuade him to add green beans to his diet, but that was the extent of his culinary expansion. Overall, Warne’s diet was quite limited.
“I like hot chips, pasta, pizza, white-bread cheese sandwiches and apples – everything else I can take or leave, mainly leave,” Warne wrote in his 2018 autobiography, ‘No Spin’.
“I do like ribs and roast pork too”.
Warne also believed that “sitting in a restaurant is a waste of time, just like cooking,” stating that “food gets in the way of a good time.” One of his more unique culinary creations was his lasagna sandwiches, where he would stuff lasagna between two buttered bread rolls.
His diet attracted even more attention during Australia’s 1998 tour of India when six tonnes of spaghetti and baked beans were delivered, addressed to him.
This sparked rumors that Warne subsisted solely on baked beans and spaghetti throughout the tour. However, he later clarified on social media that the story was exaggerated, revealing that the entire team had seen then-coach Geoff Marsh enjoying baked beans and spaghetti for breakfast.
“And we sat there after having the spicy stuff for so long in India, and we thought how good will some spaghetti and baked beans be on toast,” Warne said.
“So we said to Geoff Marsh, ‘We still have three weeks to go, is it possible to get some of these?’ So the next day he spoke to Cricket Australia and told us, ‘They’ve organised it and they should be here in a couple of days.'”
“There were a lot of other players who wanted the spaghetti and beans but it was just addressed to me,” Warne said.
“So we all helped ourselves to a few tins and we gave away the rest to all the people in India.”
