LEG spin wizard Shane Warne inspired generations of budding cricketers across the globe during an illustrious international career that spanned nearly two decades.

One of the prospective young bowlers he influenced was Corlette’s Tyler McInnes – a rising talent with the Stockton and Northern Districts club in the Newcastle District Cricket competition.

Fifteen-year-old Tyler recalls viewing a Shane Warne Masterclass video on a YouTube loop for countless hours in an attempt to learn the finer points of leg spin bowling.

“At the time I would have been eleven years old and sat transfixed as the great man delivered a clinic on my laptop screen,” the promising all rounder told News Of The Area.

“I studied Warne’s style intensively and practised for many hours in the backyard and local cricket nets modelling my action on the Australian Test great,” revealed Tyler.

“When I asked my coach if I could switch to bowling leg spin during a club match soon after he was a little apprehensive,” recalled Tyler.

But to his team’s surprise, the precocious spinner bowled with an unerring accuracy and cleaned up the opposition in a dazzling debut performance.

With another string to his bow, the gifted McInnes has been fast-tracked by Stockton on the Newcastle cricket scene and is now a fully-fledged all rounder in the Seagulls’ second grade X1.

When he requires technical advice he turns to four of his cricket mentors in former Test leg spinner Stuart MacGill, Sydney Thunder coach Mark McInnes (no relation) and Newcastle stalwarts Tommy Anderson and Nick Foster.

MacGill, who bagged 214 wickets for Australia, is the spin coach at Gordon Cricket Club where Tyler will pad up for the 2023-24 A.W Green Shield Under 16 campaign.

Playing against Shore in a recent trial, the Port Stephens junior cracked 88 off 56 balls before grabbing 3-5 with the ball and sharing an opening stand of 198 with centurion Finn O’Farrell (102 not out).

Tyler played his early cricket with Nelson Bay and Newcastle junior representative teams and was training with the Seagulls by the age of eleven.

After turning twelve he was promoted to third grade and finished with an impressive haul of 23 wickets for the season – the second highest tally in the competition.

McInnes caught the eye of keen judges when he captured an incredible 77 wickets as a thirteen-year-old in both junior and senior formats before cementing his spot in second grade.

A power hitting batsman, Tyler smashed 152 and 89 for his school side St Philip’s Christian College at Salamander Bay in the Wilburn Shield and once grabbed ten wickets in a day aged fourteen with hauls of 5-14 (Juniors) and 5-40 for the Seagulls.

Back in June he gained valuable experience on English wickets when he toured abroad with the Lyon Cricket Academy Under 21 squad – led by Test spinner Nathan Lyon’s brother Brendan – and helped the side win five of their fourteen matches.

Tyler was a promising AFL midfielder with Nelson Bay Marlins and State cross country runner before challenging his energies into cricket.

He will also represent Newcastle in this summer’s Bradman Cup Under 16 series along with Seagulls club mates Lucas Vincent and Tremayne Small to be staged in Kempsey and Illawarra region.

The leg-spinning ace can push his claims for NSW Metro Under 17 squad selection with strong performances at club and junior representative level in coming weeks.

Last Saturday he steered the Seagulls to a second grade limited overs victory over Wallsend at Lynn Oval – mesmerising the Tigers’ batsmen to snare 5-31 off eight overs and posted 26 runs.

By Chris KARAS