Thanks, Shane Warne for being the gross uncle at the party.

Warnie, Warnie, Warnie… next time #askhimmore

Yesterday Australia won the Cricket World Cup.

And we beat New Zealand, which adds to the joy of it all.

It’s a cause for celebration. We’re happy. The players are happy. It’s good to be a winner.

Enter Shane Warne.

» http://t.co/gJTMv5zCVE Cricket World Cup #CricketWorldCup Shane Warne and Ian Healy after Australia s Ashes victor… pic.twitter.com/gwgUpubH0P

— Mary Smith (@smitharyy) March 30, 2015

Now, there’s no doubt that Warnie is the spin bowler of our generation. He was an excellent player. He basically won Australia the World Cup back in 1999.

Flash forward 16 years and Warnie is now a commentator on Channel 9. Yesterday he wandered onto the pitch to interview the players after the match. And it was awkward.

First he asked wicket keeper, Brad Haddin, “are you feeling thirsty?” (He was.)

Then Warnie moved on to Captain-in-Waiting, Steven Smith. “Are you going to have a bit of a drink tonight too, Smithy? Are you going to get thirsty as well? The boys are thirsty they seem.”

Steven Smith played it off, and spoke about the quality of the opposition and the magnitude of the win, etc etc.

But Warnie was undeterred.

The boys are as thirsty as Shane Warne is after 30 minutes without tinder

— Brodie Kane (@brodiekane) March 29, 2015

He wandered up to Shane Watson and Josh Hazlewood: “So what’s the plan — besides lots of drink and that? How long is that going to last. Just one night, two nights? We saw (coach) Darren Lehmann say it might last a week. Do you reckon it will go a bit longer than that?”

Yeah. So Warne wants to know whether everyone is going to have a drink. Great work. Good TV. Insightful stuff.

A photo posted by Shane Warne (@shanewarne23) on Mar 29, 2015 at 9:24am PDT

Let’s be clear about this: these blokes are demonstrably now the best players in the world. They have just reached the pinnacle of their sport. They are athletes. They’ve spent the summer proving to Australia that they are serious, committed and decent human beings. And what do they get asked? Some dumb shit about drinking.

More: Thank you, Michael Clarke for showing my son it is ok to cry.

#AskHimMore, Warnie.

Ask him more because they are athletes and deserve more dignity than a peanut shoving a mic in their face and babbling about booze.

Ask him more because millions of people around the world are watching our country and our players at this very moment.

Ask him more because alcohol-fuelled violence is a significant issue in this country.

Ask him more because we don’t really give a shit about what each player will be drinking tonight.

Ask him more because you are coming across like a lecherous uncle who wants to know where the young ‘uns are going out to party later that night.

Warnie knows he embarrassed himself so he tweeted last night that the do-gooders should “get stuffed”.

Do gooders get stuffed. Straya is the best place in the world, not politically correct, keep it real. Aussies celebrate properly ! #thirsty — Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 29, 2015

But the truth is that this isn’t about being a do-gooder. It’s not about being anti-alcohol. It’s about respecting the players. It’s about respecting the game and it’s about taking responsibility for the drinking culture that causes injury, death and disability every weekend across the country.

And it’s also about not being a dickhead.

I’ll just leave this here…. #thirsty pic.twitter.com/Tctr7pXwzc — Melanie Homer (@melhomer) March 29, 2015

And that’s something all Australians can get behind.