Cricket won't be the same anymore

When i woke up today morning, the first thought that came to my mind was if I had overslept. I immediately picked up my cellphone and looked the time. It was 07:04. Shit! (I said to myself). I had overslept by 2 hours. I wanted to get up at 5 to watch today's proceedings at SCG. I turned on the TV praying that the match be still on. But it was not to be. All I could see was the presentation ceremony. I cursed myself. If only I had got up at 5, I would have seen the Australians winding up the England innings, I would have seen McGrath pick up his last wicket (also the last wicket of this ashes) and I would also have seen Langer play his last innings.

I desperately wanted to see the last acts of McGrath and Warne. I have been a diehard cricket fan since last 14 years and I have grown up seeing these two guys perform. I have been a non-partisan fan of Warne (He hasn't done well against India) but a very partisan McGrath fan. Whenever McGrath used to ball against Sachin, I would pray to God for he has this knack of picking of the best opposition batsman. I have always admired his discipline, the way he relentlessly probed batsmen outside off-stump is unbelievable. I have never seen a more disciplined and patient bowler than him. Watching him was boring at times but then he made up for his boring bowling with his continuous chatting. Warne, on the other hand never gave any dull moments. He always had too much variety. I haven't seen him bowling Gatting out live but I did see him bowling Strauss out in the last Ashes. The ball pitched well outside offstump, Strauss thrust his left pad forward to leave the ball but what happened next was unbelievable. The ball pitched in rough, turned viciously and hit his leg stump. This disbelief in his eyes was to be seen. How could the bowl turn so much! Well, if Warne is bowling at you, you better believe that he could turn the ball at will.

Today, both of them have retired from test cricket. I dare say that it would be impossible for anyone to fill in their shoes. Between them, they accounted for over 1250 test wickets. They have left a big void in world cricket. Without them, cricket won't be the same anymore.