The Guardian/London
Hi Shane. So you’re out in New York City for the Cricket All-Stars tour to promote the game in the US. Is it nice to be able to walk down the street without getting mobbed?
I do get mobbed! We just walked out of a building and there were about 10 people that wanted selfies. Without trying to pump myself and Sachin up, I think we’ve given a good account of ourselves as ambassadors for the sport. People have realised that and said, “hang on, these guys actually are a bit of a big deal and people do like them”. There’s so much awareness here: we’re on the front of the New York Times!
How exciting. Do you think of yourself as the David Beckham of cricket?
I don’t see myself as David Beckham. But we’ve got Murali, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Ambrose, Walsh, Lara, Laxman, Ganguly, Dravid, Sehwag, Tendulkar, Ponting, McGrath, Hayden, Symonds, myself, Akram, Akhtar all out here, so we’re trying to have a similar impact on cricket as David had on football in the US.
Who has got the weakest banter at Sky?
Nasser [Hussain]. I can wind him up very easily, on the pitch or in the commentary box. I remember when he was captain of England and I was captain of Australia at an ODI in Sydney. England only needed 20 or 30 with seven wickets in hand and they were cruising. I started sledging Nasser from cover and he got hooked, it was like Jaws grabbing on the end of a line. I brought myself on the next over and he ran down the wicket trying to hit me for six and got out stumped. McGrath and I cleaned up the rest and we won from nowhere. I like to remind him of that – in a rain delay I’ll try and get the producer to put that game on.
Who is your best pal in the All-Stars?
Obviously I’m pretty close with all the Australian guys. I’ve probably spent a lot of time with Sachin and Brian Lara. I talk about the game with Sachin and the matches we’ve played in the past and Brian is good fun to have a beer with and a bit of a laugh afterwards. More of a buddy to sit in a nice cool bar with.
You’re a single man, do you get chatted up in the NYC bars?
I’m just a guy going to a bar trying to unwind.
You revealed earlier this year that you’re on Tinder. Have you been using that in the US?
I used it when I landed at the airport, but the Wi-Fi wasn’t working properly. I haven’t had a chance to do anything or check it out, but I’ll see how the time goes.
You coached and gave a few pointers to [England spin bowler] Adil Rashid recently. How did that go?
He’s a work in progress. He’s going to get better with time, but still a very good bowler right now. He’s not quite at the level of Yasir Shah though – out of all the people that I’ve ever coached or had a session with, he’s got the best leg break I’ve ever seen. He’s messaging me every day asking ‘what else can you teach me?’ I was his hero, he had posters of me on his wall, so it’s nice to work with Yasir. But I hope that the tips I’ve given to Rashid will help him too. If I can help both of them, I’m more than happy.