'Shane Warne helped me reconnect with my father'

Journalist Robbie James says the loss of cricketer Shane Warne prompted him to ring his father after years without contact

"Shane Warne was brilliant at bringing people together," says journalist Robbie James, as he recalls the Australian cricket legend whose death prompted him to reach out to his father for the first time in many years.

A year on from Warne's death, Mr James, 25, has been remembering the sportsman and how he was a "good human".

Warne, who died of a suspected heart attack, aged 52, took 708 Test wickets - the second most of all time - in 145 matches, across a stellar 15-year international career.

He is also credited with transforming Hampshire cricket and captained the club between 2004 and 2007.

After falling in love with cricket during the 2005 Ashes, Mr James, who now lives in Surrey but is originally from Hampshire, says figures like Warne and Kevin Pietersen were "like superheroes" and "made cricket".

The sport gave Mr James and his father "a great shared adventure under difficult times"

When Mr James was about seven or eight years old, his father, John, spotted Warne at the Ageas Bowl cricket ground in Southampton and rang his mother to bring him down to the pitch.

He recalls how it was "unfathomable" that he could see someone in real life rather than just on TV.

'Sprinkled with gold dust'

After the match, he waited patiently with his father to see Warne, in a bid to gain his autograph.

"Then he saw me - I think I was the only child there," Mr James says.

"He quickly stopped and had a little chat with me, shook my hand and then went up the stairs.

"My dad says it was like we had been sprinkled with gold dust."

Mr James' father says his meeting with Warne "was like we had been sprinkled with gold dust"

Mr James' parents were in the process of splitting up at the time, and in the years that followed he became estranged from his father

"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to have him as part of my life for quite a long time," he says.

But when Warne died on 4 March 2022, one of the first things Mr James did was phone his father.

He describes the conversation as "nostalgic" and a chance to "look back at the effects that he had on us both".

After watching the 2005 Ashes, Mr James says he viewed cricketers like Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne as "superheroes"

"Shane Warne is someone who I attach very happy memories of my dad to because when I met Shane, it was when I had a really good relationship with my dad."

Warne was "brilliant at bringing people together and he weirdly did that when he died with me and my dad", Mr James adds.

'Shared adventure'

Mr James' father says the passing of Warne "has had a big effect in hopefully sparking much better relations".

"It was obvious his death really shocked Robbie into memories of the past," he continues.

"He specially rang me about it, and seemed very affected by it."

But he adds: "It was cricket itself that provided an unexpected but almost perfect vehicle for keeping our relationship positive."

The sport "gave us a great shared adventure under difficult times for many years", he continues.

Mr James says Warne's mantra "manners are free" has stuck with him and many fans he has spoken to

Mr James has made a documentary for BBC Radio Solent on Warne, reflecting on how he transformed Hampshire cricket as a way of marking the first anniversary of his death.

"He was the first person I ever met who showed me that no matter how many things you have going on in your life, no matter how famous you are, you can still be still be a good human being," he says.

"When he spoke, you listened. One of his mantras was, 'manners are free'.

"Putting this [documentary] together, over the course of the year, has been so personal, but also I feel like I owe it to him."