Australian cricket legend Shane Warne sneaked in vodka 'in Gatorade bottles'

The late Shane Warne had a spectacular career with the Australian cricket team, but off the field, he had his share of controversies including addiction, sex scandals, and much more. One of his former teammates, Stuart MacGill, has revealed that the duo used to hide vodka in their Gatorade bottles while on tour.

Warne will always remain one of the greatest spinners of all time. The leg-spinner is the highest wicket-taker for Australia across formats, and he was also the first-ever cricketer to reach the landmark of 700 Test wickets. Warne, who was a genius at ripping and turning the ball, had a decorated career in international cricket.

MacGill and Warne were Australian teammates in the 1990s and early 2000s. Born in Perth, MacGill made his international debut for the Baggy Green in January 1998 against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval. While he was considered a great talent, unfortunately, because of Warne, the Western Australian cricketer never got enough opportunities to represent the national team.

Considering Warne's talent, ability, and consistency, he was always Australia's first-choice spinner ahead of MacGill, who eventually managed just 44 Test caps for the Aussies in over 10 years. The majority of MacGill's game time came when Warne was either injured or when he was suspended for a year for failing a drugs test, with the duo only playing 16 Tests together for Australia.

"Most of the Test matches that Shane and I played together, he was either coming into an injury or coming out of an injury so it wasn't fair. Still speak to his parents, they're lovely people, it's a great family. And I said this to Keith, his old man, that Shane commentating used to drive me up the wall because he wasn't talking like he used to talk to me.

"I think I even heard him say 'indeed' one day on the TV, but we had a lot of laughs because he was exactly as you saw him," MacGill said in an appearance on the 82 Days Till The Ashes podcast, reported Mirror.

Shane Warne's alcohol tales

During the podcast, when MacGill was shown a picture of him and Warne having a chat in the dressing room while the former was holding a bottle of Gatorade, he revealed they used to sneak vodka into their Gatorade bottles.

"That was probably in the subcontinent. It's very, very important all you young players out there to hydrate when you're playing in hot weather and so I found vodka and Gatorade - it's very, very good," the 52-year-old former cricketer added.

Warne had many "alcohol" stories throughout his career, which ended after the 2006-07 home Ashes series against England.

A few years ago, former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie revealed that Darren Lehman was appointed to control Warne's alcohol intake during a tour to India. Lehmann would go on to term the incident as a "great duty" as vice-captain during Australia's tour to India in 2004.

Shane Warne's IPL controversy

In 2009, Warne was subjected to an alcohol-related controversy, this time when he was captaining Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). During a game in the tournament, Warne was on the boundary line, when the cameras panned on him just when he took a little sip of beer which was given to him by a spectator. After that, Warne immediately returned the glass to the spectator and carried on with the game.

The media eventually made a big deal of this, questioning Warne's ethics and on-field conduct.

A few years later, Warne managed to invite yet another controversy even when he was on the field as a TV presenter. The incident took place after Australia defeated New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup 2015 final at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Warne was slammed for promoting an unhealthy drinking culture, following post-match interviews at cricket's World Cup final in which he repeatedly asked players about their drinking plans.

Acting as part of the commentary team for Australian broadcaster Channel Nine, Warne interviewed the victorious Australian cricketers at the MCG after their comfortable victory over the BlackCaps in the final.

There were always fingers raised against Warne about his alcohol addiction, saying since he was a cricket legend and a role model, he shouldn't behave that way. But, honestly, he was far from being a role model and he'll always be remembered as a colourful personality who always did what brought him joy and whatever he wanted to do.