Cricket greats join Jenner farewell

Updated May 31, 2011 21:22:00

Cricketing greats from across four decades have farewelled spin coach and former Test bowler Terry Jenner at a funeral in Adelaide, with Shane Warne declaring he owed his success to his mentor.

Warne told about 450 mourners at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday that Jenner was a character, and both cricket and life were better to have had him around.

He said Jenner had played a big part in both his personal and sporting lives, and saying goodbye recently was difficult.

"The last chat a few weeks ago was quite tough," Warne said.

"We didn't say a lot but we said enough.

"I just thanked him for everything he had helped me with. I wouldn't have been able to achieve without TJ."

Warne also served as a pallbearer at the funeral along with South Australian leg spinner Cullen Bailey.

Those to farewell Jenner included former batting great Doug Walters, Test wicketkeepers Rod Marsh and Ian Healy, and former Australian captains Ian and Greg Chappell.

Bailey told the gathering that he had first come under Jenner's influence at a coaching clinic when he was just 11.

"He was my coach, mentor, ally, friend and a father figure," Bailey said.

"No one knew or loved spin bowling like TJ."

The service was also read a message on behalf of the English Cricket Board (ECB), which described the 66-year-old as a great bloke as well as a great coach.

"TJ touched a great many people," the ECB said.

"His legacy will live on through the careers of the coaches and bowlers he inspired and influenced.

"It wasn't just his knowledge and his skills that we loved, it was his humour and his generosity, and his passion that he had for spin that came across in his coaching."

Jenner died last Wednesday after suffering a major heart attack last year.

He played nine Test matches for Australia in the 1970s but was best remembered as a spin bowling coach and most particularly for his union with Warne.

The partnership began in about 1990 and continued for the next two decades, and helped Jenner return to mainstream society after serving 18 months in jail for fraud in 1988-89.

Jenner, who said he stole money to pay gambling debts, is the only Australian Test cricketer to be jailed.

After his heart attack he was largely restricted to his Adelaide home, though he made an appearance at Adelaide Oval in October for a testimonial dinner.

-AAP

Tags: sport, cricket, australia, sa, adelaide-5000

First posted May 31, 2011 18:05:00

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