A mural in time: imagining Shane Warne's ultimate party | Jonathan Liew

What if the widely ridiculed artwork featuring a host of the former cricketer’s favourite public figures was not merely a figment of his imagination?

By Jonathan Liew for The Nightwatchman

The film crew had been through almost every room of the house, and were just about to leave when the producer spotted the mural. At first, she thought nothing of it. Shane Warne’s house in the Melbourne suburbs was like a shrine to bad art. The motivational posters featuring tropical sunsets and soaring eagles. The Matisse rip-offs that looked like a child’s school macaroni project. The Barack Obama “Hope” poster, but with Merv Hughes in the main role. This, however, was on an entirely different scale.

The cameras started rolling. “I’ll run you through a couple of the names,” Warne said. “So there’s Bruce Springsteen and myself just chilling in the corner, having a drink. Springsteen’s got a cricket ball in his hand, he’s just asking questions about cricket. The legend Mick Jagger, he’s just sitting in the pool chilling. Then you’ve got Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali having a bit of a tune, just singing along. Then JFK’s just mixing with Sharon Stone and Marilyn Monroe. Two of my closest friends, Chris Martin and Michael Clarke, just having a bit of a chat. I tell you what, the artist has looked after Pup with those guns!”

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This article was originally published in the Australia special edition of The Nightwatchman, a collection of brilliant long-form writing about Australian cricket. Click here to download your copy for just £4.50 (around $8.00) when you use coupon AG10 at the checkout.

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