Shane Warne, Fanny and Charles Fry, Chairman of the MCC in the Long Room at Lord's

"Fanny Rush has done a wonderful job in capturing the spirit of both Shane Warne the cricketer, and Shane Warne the man. I am sure that this portrait will be much admired during the coming Ashes series, and in the future.”
- Lord Fellowes, Chairman of the MCC Arts and Library Sub-Committee

Shane Warne, Fanny and Charles Fry, Chairman of the MCC in the Long Room at Lord's

The Sunday Telegraph - June 2005

The Daily Mirror - June 2005

The Daily Mail- June 2005

The Sun - June 2005

The Evening Standard - June 2005

The Times - June 2005

The Daily Mirror- June 2005

ICC Australia 7th June 2005
Warne will unveil a portrait of himself at Lord's tomorrow and the painting will hang alongside Don Bradman and Keith Miller in the pavilion. The oil-on-linen work, which took artist Fanny Rush ten months to complete, because of Shane's return to Australia during the process, was commissioned by MCC to keep the collection fresh.
"The contribution to cricket made by Shane Warne has been immense, and it is only right that he should be represented," Lord Fellowes, the chairman of the MCC Arts and Library Sub-Committee, said. "I am sure that this portrait will be much admired during the coming Ashes series, and in the future."
Rush said she knew how to portray Warne the moment she heard about the commission. "I knew his reputation as a fearsome bowler, and I envisaged him in the portrait as if seen from a batsman's point of view, bearing down formidably and with supreme confidence," she said. "Over the months that it took to complete the painting, I got to know him as a person, too. He is a delightful man, and I feel that I have also caught this aspect of him in the portrait."

The Age Australia 9th June 2005
Warne was speaking at the unveiling of a portrait of himself by artist Fanny Rush in the Long Room at Lord's. Next month he will become the first non-English player to walk past a portrait of himself in that history-laden room before playing a Test on the hallowed turf.
And he certainly has become the first player past or present to unveil his portrait there while sporting dyed hair, earring and clutching a packet of Benson and Hedges.
"Maybe a few of the members might throw darts at (the portrait), but I like to think most of the members will be pretty happy with it," he said.
"I look in the mirror every morning at my ugly dial, so now I've just got to look at it when I'm playing cricket at Lord's as well."
"Just don't let Brett Lee with a black texta near it, I might have a moustache like Merv (Hughes) by the end of it."
 
The News Today
Warne at Lord’s for unveiling

LONDON, Jun 7: The latest addition to the MCC Collection – a portrait of Australia spin-bowling legend, Shane Warne, by the Chelsea-based artist Fanny Rush – will be unveiled by the man himself at Lord’s, according to a Cricketworld report.
The oil-on-linen painting of the world’s leading Test wicket-taker was commissioned by MCC and has taken the artist over ten months to complete due to the challenge of scheduling sittings when Shane was in England. The portrait will be on display in the Long Room this summer during the eagerly anticipated Ashes series.
Fanny Rush was born and grew up in London. The only painter in a family of eminent sculptors and writers, she developed her talent for painting while working as an art director in Brazil.
After winning an award for art direction at the Cannes Film Festival, she decided to concentrate on painting full-time, and returned to England to establish her own studio in 1998.
She has produced work for MCC in the past, but Shane Warne is her first portrait of a cricketer.
The MCC Museum houses the most comprehensive and important collection of cricket memorabilia anywhere in the world. The Club has been acquiring cricket artefacts since 1864 and, over 140 years on, continues to enhance its collection of historic and contemporary items.

Fox News
Portrait balls-up just nuts
By Toby Forage
June 10, 2005

SHANE Warne's googlies are the talk of the London tabloids, but it's nothing to do with his bowling actions.
Officials at Lord's reportedly called for touch-ups to be made to a portrait of the Australia leg-spin bowler because it displayed "too much of his middle stump", reports The Sun's cricket writer John Etheridge.
Etheridge wrote yesterday: "Artist Fanny Rush was asked to reduce the cricketer's lunchbox before an unveiling at Lord's.
"A few tickles were made to the leg side."
But the MCC has denied it asked for any changes to be down-under.
When asked if adjustments had been made to the lunchbox area, the historic cricket club's art curator Adam Chadwick said: "Absolutely not.
"It's a fun story, but there's no truth in it at all."  
Warne, 35, unveiled the portrait on Wednesday (AEST)at Lord's, where it will hang permanently in the Long Room.
Warne added: "It's a huge honour, but I suppose a few of the members might throw darts at it."


Cape Argos Warney joins The Don at Lord's
June 8, 2005

Shane Warne joined a select band of cricketers when he unveiled a portrait of himself at Lord's yesterday.
The oil on linen painting of the leg-spinner will be hung in the ground's famous Pavilion where it will be only the third portrait of an Australian player - late cricket greats Sir Donald Bradman and Keith Miller are the two others - to go on display.
"It's taken a lot of sittings with Fanny. It's a privilege for me. I feel very proud of the achievement. It (Lord's) is a fantastic ground," said Warne, after unveiling the portrait by London artist Fanny Rush.
The portrait will initially be hung in the Pavilion's Long Room, meaning Warne, the world's leading test wicket-taker, is set to walk past it when he takes the field for the first Ashes test against England starting on July 21.
Ever since bowling the "ball of the century" to dismiss Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993, Warne has tormented England batsmen.

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