Warnie blasts Steve Waugh over 'ultimate embarrassment'

Shane Warne has lashed out at former Australian Test captain Steve Waugh for what he’s labelled as an “ultimate embarrassment”.

In yet another truth to be revealed from his new book, Warne opened up in an interview with the BBC when he absolutely blasted his former teammate.

Warne reflected on an incident surrounding Waugh and the cherished Baggy Green, saying he was “embarrassed by some of the verbal diarrhoea that came out about the Baggy Green cap”.

The 49-year-old went into detail about the time Waugh insisted the players wear their Baggy Greens to Wimbledon, and he was brutal.

“The ultimate embarrassment was when Steve Waugh – we went to see Pat Rafter play at Wimbledon and he wanted the whole team to wear it,” Warne told Michael Vaughan on the BBC.

“I looked at Mark Waugh and he said ‘I’m not wearing it’ and I said ‘I’m not wearing it either’.

“So the guys that idolised Steve Waugh – Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist those types of guys, all wear the Baggy Green to Wimbledon.

“It makes me want to puke to think about that, these guys, grown men, wore baggy green caps to Wimbledon. So I refused.

“Looking back at some of those photos, It was embarrassing to watch.”

“Myself and Mark Waugh loved wearing a white floppy hat. It gave protection from the sun.

“It felt more comfortable on our head. The Baggy Green was too tight. We didn’t like the look of it on our heads.”

The outburst is the latest of a series of reveals Warne has spoken out on since releasing his new book, and comes just a week after he labelled Waugh the most selfish cricketer he ever played with.

Shane Warne has added fuel to flames of his long-running feud with Steve Waugh with a savage attack on the former Test skipper in his new book.

Warne and Waugh were two lynchpins in the one of the greatest cricket teams of all time but fell out irreparably after Warne was left out of the fourth Test in Antigua against the West Indies in 1999.

Australia were 2-1 down at the time and Warne admits in the book, No Spin, that his behaviour around the team after being dropped was poor, but claims Waugh treated him badly and was selfish.

“I smoked in the toilet through most of the match,” Warne said, in an excerpt of the book that is being serialised in the London Times.

“Errol Alcott [the physiotherapist] and a few of the guys joined me in the dunny too.

“I conducted myself badly, to be honest. I wasn’t that supportive of the team, which I regret.

“During the first three Tests, at various times some of the bowlers came to me, grumbling about Tugga’s (Waugh) captaincy and field placements.

“I said I was backing him to the hilt and if they had a problem with the captain they should go see him direct. Perhaps because of this, I was deeply disappointed that he didn’t back me in return.”

“I lost a bit of respect for him after that. I believe he should have backed me — as I always believe the art of captaincy is to support your players and back them every time.

“This gains the respect from the players and makes them play for you. He didn’t, it’s history, but I never found it easy with him after that.”

Warne said he and Waugh clashed again after the skipper opted to play himself against Sri Lanka later that year just days after a sickening on-field collision with Jason Gillespie when the pair were running to try to make a catch.

Despite spending time in hospital with a head injury Waugh insisted he had to play and would field in a helmet.

“I admit there was an element of bitterness in my attitude to Steve after what happened in Antigua,” Warne said.

“Equally, it’s my honest belief that you can’t field a whole Test match in a helmet, even in the gully.

“As the conversation went on I got more and more facetious about it. I’d even say I was being a dickhead and looking for a bit of revenge.

“He hadn’t backed me and now I wasn’t going to back him.

“I have to emphasise that my attitude had nothing to do with me wanting to be captain.

“It was all about him not playing.

“Steve Waugh was the most selfish player I ever played with and was only worried about averaging 50.

“It was about a lack of loyalty. Pretty childish, I know, but that’s the way it was.”

with AAP.