Legspinner feels “responsibility” to enjoy his craft after month-long apprenticeship in the Hundred
Vithushan Ehantharajah15-Jul-2022In the players’ dining room of the Ageas Bowl, where there were once pictures of former Hampshire greats on the wall, there is now just one. Following the passing of Shane Warne in March, the collage was replaced by a mural of the legendary Australian, accompanied by one of his famous quotes: “Never give up. Just absolutely never give up.”Warne was associated with Hampshire between 2000 and 2007, captaining them from 2004, leaving an indelible mark on many who remain involved with the club at all levels. Much of the Big County Energy on the south coast emanates from his personality and what he achieved at the club. But in the tougher moments at the start of the club’s Vitality Blast campaign, with four defeats on the bounce, that quote and the image of the man himself were reminders of who they were.Hampshire went on to win 10 out of the next 11, including a 104-run demolition of a strong Birmingham Bears in the quarter-final. Victory in 2012 was their last successful run to the end, repeating a trick they managed in 2010. Given Hampshire’s pedigree in Twenty20 – Saturday will be their ninth appearance at Finals Day – two trophy lifts in the previous 19 campaigns rankles as underperformance. But there is an overriding desire for victory in 2022 to pay the perfect tribute to the county’s adopted Australian son.”Every day, you see him and his words on the wall,” Mason Crane tells ESPNcricinfo. “I guess he is a big part of it, really. A lot of his attitude towards the game and his way of the game has certainly been passed to a lot at the club. I’d like to feel he’s part of what’s going on at the moment.”Related
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It’s not for nothing that three of Hampshire’s key performers were around the club’s academy in the time of Warne. Captain James Vince (31 years old), allrounder Liam Dawson (32) and left-arm seamer Chris Wood (32) have continually been at the forefront of white ball success, as per this season with 653 runs, 17 wickets at an economy rate of 7.34, and 19 at 7.81 respectively.All three have been responsible for setting consistently high standards while ensuring the ethos laid down by Warne, fresh when they were around the first-team squad, is still being passed on. The impacts of younger players, such as Brad Wheal (21 dismissals) and outside recruits, such as James Fuller (20, along with 273 runs as a finisher, striking at 150.82) suggest it remains strong.It is Crane, however, who holds the strongest link. Not just as a legspinner who was inspired to throw himself into the craft after the 2005 Ashes, or even as one donning Hampshire colours. For six weeks last summer, as part of London Spirit in the inaugural season of the Hundred, Crane worked under Warne, who was head coach at the new team.Crane wheels away in celebration•PA Images/GettyIt was the first time they had consistent interaction, having first come across each other on the 2017-18 Ashes tour, in which Crane made what remains his one and (to date) only Test appearance. “London Spirit was every spinner’s dream,” Crane beams. “It was such a surreal experience. As fun as it’ll get, I imagine.”While Spirit’s campaign saw them finish last with a single win from their eight matches, Crane reflects on what was an intense, enjoyable education. The pair would spend almost every interaction focusing on Crane’s craft, often with Warne setting him hypothetical challenges and then offering up solutions while Crane was still pondering them.”He’d say to me: ‘If there’s a pitch that’s not going to spin much, what do you do?’ And then he’d go, ‘you’re just going to have to really spin one quite big in the first few balls’. I’d be like, ‘what do you mean?’ And he’d say, ‘Well, you’re going to have to spin one a long way to get in their head.'”I’d laugh and be like, ‘yeah, I’m f***ing trying mate!’ And you realise he’s just telling you what he used to tell himself when he was bowling. But he could do whatever he wanted.”They exchanged messages over the winter; almost all were Warne keeping track on how Crane was. The day Warne passed, Crane was devastated, tweeting his condolences in the afternoon. Even four months on, he struggles to comprehend the loss.
Shane Warne made me fall in love with the game as an 8 year old and he has completely inspired me every day since. I am so honoured and lucky to have been able to spend time with him and learn from him. He was everything I could have asked for and so much more. RIP to the King pic.twitter.com/wQDXuK7C1j
— Mason Crane (@masoncrane32) March 4, 2022
“From a human level, it’s still disbelief, really,” he says, still shaking his head. “One minute he’s there and… yeah, just awful. It hit me a lot harder than you’d ever imagine really.”The saddest thing is I’ll never get that chance to work with him again. But the happy memory is I had it. I had the best six weeks ever, and that can’t be taken away. I feel very privileged indeed to have had that time.”At around the end of March, Crane was thinking about how Warne’s death had affected him. It was only in conversation with Hampshire’s director of cricket, Giles White, he happened upon why, and how he could channel that emotion going forward.”I said to Giles – I don’t know, but I felt it gave me some responsibility. To pass on his [Warne’s] love of the game, his affection for it all.”I took every opportunity last year to speak to him about bowling. And it’s about putting that all together and taking on some of his traits. His puffing out the chest, his confidence. That belief. His attitude, really.”At face value, it is quite the epiphany for a 25-year-old. The kind you wouldn’t wish on one so young, given the time in his life and the high-level profession, not least as a purveyor of cricket’s most challenging suit. But if there is one thing abundantly clear with Crane, it’s that he wants it.
“The big thing for me is age. I just think there’s nothing wrong with starting an international career later on. How many good players start an international career at 28, 30 or 32?”
He has never shirked responsibility. Even in a Blast campaign in which he has not been as guaranteed a starter as he once was, given Hampshire’s plethora of options, and the shorter boundaries at certain South Group venues which discourage spin-heavy attacks, he has still managed 11 dismissals across his 12 appearances. Even off the back of a challenging start to the season with the red ball, in which he had to go on loan to Sussex – his “home” county – he returned for the white-ball programme as hungry as ever.Perhaps his most profound characteristic – one he shares with Warne – is a passionate, yet considered support of all spinners. It stems as much from being a badger as first-hand experience of the prevailing misunderstanding and mistrust towards them in English cricket.The latest to experience that is fellow leggie Matt Parkinson. A maiden appearance in Test whites came as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach in the first Test of the summer at Lord’s, after years of people calling for his inclusion following a strong body of work at Lancashire. Then, after 15.3 overs in which he returned 1 for 47, there was a sharp shift in the narrative: of not bowling quick enough, not getting enough drift. Of not being the chosen one promised.Crane is frustrated after an appeal is turned down•Alex Davidson/Getty Images”That was literally me, what, five years ago, was it?” Crane muses, empathetic to the reaction Parkison, a friend, experienced. “I think it was 2017 and 2018, people who had never seen me bowl were like ‘get him in the side’. Then you play one game and they’re like, ‘oh, hang on a minute?’ Never to be heard of again. That’s the cycle, isn’t it? Then they hop on the next one.”The big thing for me is age. I just think there’s nothing wrong with starting an international career later on. How many good players start an international career at 28, 30 or 32? There’s nothing wrong with that. That should be normal.”Parky is 26 this year. That’s not old. He’s going to be playing for another decade. Are you telling me he’s not going to be better than he is now? Of course he is. I feel like at the moment, someone in Parky’s position, you can look at it and go people are writing his whole red-ball career off already. And that’s just wrong.”All of that can be applied to Crane, though he will turn 26 in February of next year. Even into a period where he will be playing high-profile limited-overs cricket, starting with Finals Day and going into season two of the Hundred, he has already noted areas he needs to focus on to improve his first-class opportunities.And as much as his words speak of an ingrained caring and honesty, Crane possesses underlying steel that belies his boyish visage. It comes through loud and clear – even Warne-like – when asked what his fourth Finals Day appearance might have in store.”We don’t play T20 to have a go at it,” he says. “We’re here to get to Finals Day. Now we’re here to win it.”
