You can’t play cricket forever, you know. Eventually you will take a bowl to the head, or twist a knee beyond repair, or retire to play professional poker. It’s inevitable. Just ask former Test cricketer Shane Warne, who was off to an auspicious start to his pro poker career by breaking the rules at the 2008 Aussie Million.
Poker players who sit down to play in one of these events know they are facing a marathon of poker. Hours and hours of play at the table, with long, Kegel muscle-gripping stretches of no bathroom breaks and being cut off from the outside world. Unless you are Warnie, who just could not wait to send a text message via cell phone during the event.
Sitting at Melbourne's Crown Casino as part of his contract with 888.com to play poker, but his chatty fingers got him busted. We don’t know who he sent the message to, or why, but we do know he got a five minute ban from the game. His cricket team is going to start next season with Warnie, thanks to commitments he made to play poker at various events; perhaps he was texting them with an apology.