I still expect a call from Shane Warne: Former England spinner Shaun Udal
Former England spinner Shaun Udal, who was part England team that won a Test at the Wankhede Stadium in 2006, has opened up on his struggles with Parkinson’s disease as he still battles to accept his close friend Shane Warne is no more.
The off-spinner, who first revealed his medical conditions four years ago, now says he is not even in a position to hold the ball because, “my hands would shake so much I’d be bowling long hops and full tosses even more than I used to!” he told the Daily Mail.
“I could probably bat for a bit to be fair but my ambition since being diagnosed has been to bowl properly again in a game before this gets too bad. I’ve yet to achieve that. I did have a couple of nets a couple of winters back and let’s just say they didn’t go too well.”
Real life Parkinson’s 😢 pic.twitter.com/i4b8WfthhL
— Shaun Udal (@shaggyudal) March 10, 2023
With no medical cure, Udal says despite having his family the side, he at times feels lonely. “It is the loneliness of it all really because no-one else can help you get out of this,’ he says. ‘If you break a leg you know you will recover and be up walking again but this is a lifetime thing and it’s not going to get any better.”
Making thing worse, soon after he was diagnosed with the conditions, Udal lost his mother to Covid to his brother soon after. And even before he could come to terms with it, he lost his dear friend Warne, with who he played at Hampshire.
“Mum went a couple of years ago and we couldn’t say goode because of Covid and then I lost my brother unexpectedly,’ he says. ‘Then when Shane went…I still can’t believe it. I’ve still got his number on my phone and I look at it sometimes and think ‘come on mate ring me.’ But it’s not going to happen.
“I know everyone has their problems but to go through three or four major things in a short space of time has been very tough. Parkinson’s can be stress related and when you’re stressed that’s when the shakes become worse and the muscles hurt. The less stress the better and I have to keep active for my own sanity as much as anything,” Udal says.
