Warne Promises Flippin’ Hell

Speaking to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Warne said that he had re-discovered the ball which tormented international batsmen in the mid-1990s when the world’s leading test wicket-taker first burst onto the international scene.

Warne broke his spinning finger in a first class match for Victoria six years ago and has since struggled to perfect the flipper. Now he says the ball will be reintroduced against the English batsmen this summer.

“I am going to bowl one in my first over just to let them know that it’s back,” Warne said. “I was landing two out of five – now it’s closer to three, even closer to four out of five. That’s what I wanted. I haven’t been able to bowl it much since I broke my spinning finger at Punt Road. But my finger and my shoulder now feel great. I am feeling really good about the flipper now. I am [also] bowling more wrong ‘uns now than I ever have. They are coming out well.”

This Ashes series wil mark the first for many years that Warne has not unveiled a new “mystery ball”. First there was the slider, then the zooter, then the under-spinner. Whether his reversion to his first international surprise delivery means Warne is out of ideas remains to be seen, however, it underlines how long he has been playing the game that none of the current English batsmen have been around long enough to have faced a flipper from the maestro.

Asked about the way the English batsmen played him last year, Warne noted “I think at times England played me really well last year,” he said. “I think they were a lot more aggressive … but that’s why myself and Murali have got so many wickets quicker. I don’t mind that.”

Should Warne re-capture the ability to consistently land his flipper it will pose yet another problem for England, who have never mastered him. Despite the home team’s heroics in 2005, Warne still took 40 wickets without bowling the flipper with any great effect.