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If one has visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground, they would have seen Shane Warne’s statue right outside the gates and the Shane Warne stand inside the ground. When I was covering the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Melbourne a month ago, we were recording a story on Warne and his legendary love affair with the MCG. I took a picture in front of the Warne statue and sent it to a friend. “King of Spin,” he replied.
As I read his message, I caught sight of a billboard across from Warne’s statue advertising the one-off pink-ball Women’s Ashes Test between Australia and England to happen in January. I texted back, “Australia have got another King.”
He responded. “She’s good. But will she even get a chance in the Ashes? You can’t drop Georgia Wareham – she’s a better batter.”
That’s how strong the Australian team is—where even a fantastic bowler might struggle to find a spot. “I hope she does,” I replied. “Wouldn’t it be poetic if, in King Warne’s MCG, another King bowled?”
That hope turned into reality as Alana King took centre stage at the MCG, her home ground.
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A King’s Web at the MCG
England, battered and bruised from a 0-12 white-ball-series thrashing, went into the Test hoping to salvage pride. But their top order crumbled yet again, leaving Nat Sciver-Brunt with yet another rescue job. After lunch, Australia’s captain Alyssa Healy turned to her leg-spin weapon — King.
With her parents watching, and mostly bowling with the Shane Warne Stand behind her, King delivered a spell worthy of the great man himself. The control, the drift, the turn—it was classic leg-spin, straight from Warne’s playbook. She didn’t just bowl; she dictated the terms. And in doing so, she dismantled England’s resistance.
Her first victim? Sophie Dunkley. King floated one up, drawing Dunkley into the drive. The ball dipped, gripped, and found the outer half of the bat. A simple return catch, gleefully accepted by King. The breakthrough had come.
Then, Danni Wyatt-Hodge—England’s attacking batter, known for her power-hitting. But King had other plans. A tossed-up delivery on leg stump, gripping and turning inward. Wyatt-Hodge, expecting a regulation turner, nudged across but found herself undone. The ball kissed the leading edge and flew to Phoebe Litchfield at silly point, who reacted like a hawk to grab a sharp catch. King was in business.
As her spin twin, Ashleigh Gardner, dismissed Amy Jones, King sensed her moment. Next in was Sophie Ecclestone—the world’s best white-ball bowler, but also a batter who could pack a punch. King, fearless as ever, lured her into an expansive drive with a flighted delivery outside off. Ecclestone obliged. The ball, though, had other ideas—it gripped, spun, and sliced off the bat to cover. Kim Garth made no mistake.
Three wickets. And the biggest one was yet to come.
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Breaking Down the Wall
Sciver-Brunt had held England’s innings together, the lone warrior in a collapsing lineup. But after tea, King had her sights set on the fortress. She darted one in, quicker, shorter, around leg stump. Sciver-Brunt, rock-solid all day, hung back to flick. The ball turned in sharply, sneaked past the bat, and crashed into middle stump.
The King had reigned supreme at the MCG.
King’s Ashes?
A four-wicket haul at the MCG, in her hometown, in an Ashes Test. This wasn’t just a performance—it was destiny unfolding. King Warne’s ground, his beloved MCG, had witnessed another leg-spinner weave magic. The numbers tell their own tale:
Alana King in the Women’s Ashes:
- ODIs: 11 wickets in 3 matches
- T20Is: 3 wickets in 3 matches
- Test: 4 wickets in the 1st innings
A bowler for all formats, for all occasions. And at the MCG, she was at home.
Was it the power of manifestation? Maybe. Maybe not. But King, bowling from the end that used to be the Great Southern Stand and which now bears the Spin King’s name, spun webs around England. The MCG, forever Warne’s kingdom, had found another leg-spinning sorcerer.
And somewhere, The King of Spin must have been smiling. “Cheers, mate.”
Also Read: Alana King’s spin puts Australia in control of Women’s Ashes Test