Monday, January 22, 2007

Warne's interview with Parky economical with truth?

While I've always had the highest regard for Shane Warne's on-field ability, and for many of the cricket-related things he's done off the field, I don't think that it's possible to gloss over the dark side of his cricketing life. Overlook them perhaps, but not deny or falsify them.

Alas, this may have happened with his recent interview with Michael Parkinson, as today's Age claims.
According to the paper the program was pre-recorded and then edited, with the executive producers Warne, Parky and someone with a foot in both their camps (and a hand in both their pockets) having the final say.

Here's
The Age's summary of some of the discrepancies between the interview and the O'Regan report into the betting allegations:

WHAT WARNE TOLD PARKINSON"… He never told me he was a bookmaker. I didn't know that."

WHAT THE O'REGAN REPORT SAYS

"… John said he was an Indian bookmaker but he did not then ask Warne to agree to provide information in the future".

WHAT WARNE TOLD PARKINSON

"I then found out later, that when Mark Waugh and I were called into Cricket Australia (in February, 1995), that he (John) was a bookmaker, and that I'd given him information."

WHAT THE O'REGAN REPORT SAYS"By (early October, 1994) they had both accepted money from John whom they then knew to be a bookmaker who betted on cricket."

WHAT WARNE TOLD PARKINSON

"Once I found out that (John was a bookmaker), I never took any call again from him."

WHAT THE O'REGAN REPORT SAYS

"Shane Warne was never contacted after a call to Perth in early February 1995 and it seems that he had nothing to do with the cessation of the calls. John must have decided for his own reasons not to continue the contact."

WHAT WARNE TOLD PARKINSON"The bookmaker stuff was 13 or 14 years ago. I was 22 years of age."

WHAT THE CALENDAR SAID

Warne turned 25 the month he met John.


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