Mike Gatting Remembers Shane Warne's "Ball Of The Century"

Mike Gatting said he was "happy" to have been bowled by the "ball of the century" that kick-started Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne's career as one of cricket's greatest bowlers. Warne died of a suspected heart attack aged just 52 in Koh Samui, Thailand, on Friday.

Gatting made the remarks in an interview with the Daily Mail in 2013 to mark the 20th anniversary of one of the most celebrated deliveries of all time.

Warne, making his Ashes debut at Manchester's Old Trafford ground, saw his first ball pitch outside leg-stump and then spin viciously across bemused England batsman Gatting to clip the top of the off-bail.

Watch: Shane Warne's "Ball Of The Century"

The greatest Test delivery ever? pic.twitter.com/MQ8n9Vk3aI

Warne would go on to win six successive Ashes series, finishing with 708 Test wickets after helping to secure a 5-0 series whitewash at Sydney in January 2007.

As the late Richie Benaud, himself a former Australia leg-spinner, remarked during his television commentary: "Gatting has absolutely no idea what has happened to him -- and he still doesn't know."

"We'd seen a few bits and pieces of him but nothing special," Gatting told the Daily Mail.

"We thought we'd have a look at him, see what he's about and what he could do, but it was a remarkable delivery. There are people who think I should have padded it away but I never tried to lunge at a spinner. I was more worried about being bowled around the back of my legs.

"I had most of it covered and had ensured it would not get round the back of my legs and if it did anything else, I was in the right position to react, but it spun quickly as well as a long way. It was a leg break and I knew he had put a lot of revs on it and we knew the wicket might turn, but