Shane Warne

Warne in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Shane Keith Warne
Born	(1969-09-13)13 September 1969 Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia
Died	4 March 2022(2022-03-04) (aged 52) Ko Samui, Thailand
Nickname	Warnie, The Sheikh of Tweak, The King
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm leg break
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Australia (1992–2007)
Test debut (cap 350)	2 January 1992 v India
Last Test	2 January 2007 v England
ODI debut (cap 110)	24 March 1993 v New Zealand
Last ODI	10 January 2005 v Asia XI
ODI shirt no.	23
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1990/91–2006/07	Victoria (squad no. 23)
2000–2007	Hampshire (squad no. 23)
2008–2012	Rajasthan Royals (squad no. 23)
2011/12–2012/13	Melbourne Stars (squad no. 23)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 145 194 301 311 Runs scored 3,154 1,018 6,919 1,879 Batting average 17.32 13.05 19.43 11.81 100s/50s 0/12 0/1 2/26 0/1 Top score 99 55 107* 55 Balls bowled 40,705 10,642 74,830 16,419 Wickets 708 293 1,319 473 Bowling average 25.41 25.73 26.11 24.61 5 wickets in innings 37 1 69 3 10 wickets in match 10 0 12 0 Best bowling 8/71 5/33 8/71 6/42 Catches/stumpings 125/– 80/– 264/– 126/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 29 March 2008

Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian cricketer. A right-arm leg spinner, he is widely considered as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history, and in 2000 he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler and the only one still playing at the time.

Warne played his first Test match in 1992 and took more than 1,000 wickets in Tests and One Day Internationals (ODIs). Warne's 708 Test wickets was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket until 2007. He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 1994 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, and was the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1997 and 2004. A useful lower-order batsman, Warne scored more than 3,000 Test runs, with a highest score of 99 – and remains the highest test-run scorer without a century. As well as playing internationally, Warne played domestic cricket for his home state of Victoria and English domestic cricket for Hampshire. He was captain of Hampshire for three seasons from 2005 to 2007. Warne retired from international cricket in January 2007 at the end of Australia's 2006–07 Ashes series victory over England. His career was plagued by scandals off the field, including a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, charges of bringing the game into disrepute by accepting money from bookmakers and sexual indiscretions.

In 2007, Warne was named in Australia's greatest ever ODI team. He played in the first four seasons (2008–2011) of the Indian Premier League for the Rajasthan Royals, where he played the roles of both captain and coach, winning the competition in 2008. In the 150th anniversary of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Warne was named in an all-time Test World XI. In 2012, he was also inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by Cricket Australia. In 2013, Warne was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. In a fan poll conducted by the Cricketers' Almanack in 2017, he was named in the country's best Ashes XI in the last 40 years. In February 2018, the Rajasthan Royals appointed Warne as their team mentor for the IPL 2018.

Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which had come to be regarded as a dying art. After retirement he regularly worked as a cricket commentator, predominantly on Australia's Nine Network. He worked for charitable organisations and also endorsed commercial products. In recognition of his skill, a statue of him bowling was placed outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Early life

Warne was born in the Melbourne suburb of Upper Ferntree Gully on 13 September 1969, the son of Bridgette and Keith Warne. His mother was German. He attended Hampton High School from Grades 7–9 before being offered a sports scholarship to attend Mentone Grammar, where he spent his final three years of school.

Early career

Warne's first representative honours came in the 1983–84 season when he represented University of Melbourne Cricket Club in the then Victorian Cricket Association under-16 Dowling Shield competition. He bowled a mixture of leg-spin and off-spin and was a handy lower-order batsman.

The following season, Warne joined the St Kilda Cricket Club near his home suburb of Black Rock. He started in the lower elevens and, over a number of seasons, progressed to the first eleven. During the cricket off-season in 1987, Warne played five games of Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club's under-19 team. In 1988, Warne once again played for the St Kilda Football Club's under-19 team before being upgraded to the reserves team, one step below professional level. Following the 1988 Victorian Football League season, Warne was delisted by St Kilda and began to focus solely on cricket. He was later chosen to train at the Australian Cricket Academy (AIS) in 1990 in Adelaide.

Warne joined Accrington Cricket Club of the Lancashire League as their professional player for the 1991 season. After initially struggling in English conditions, he went on to have a good season as a bowler, taking 73 wickets at 15.4 runs each, but scored only 329 runs at an average of 15. The committee at Accrington decided not to re-engage him for the 1992 season, as they expected their professional to contribute as both a batsman and bowler.

Warne made his first-class cricket debut on 15 February 1991, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. He was then selected for the Australia B team, which toured Zimbabwe in September 1991. In the second tour match at Harare Sports Club, Warne recorded his first first-class haul of five wickets or more in an innings when he took 7/49 in the second innings, helping Australia B to a nine-wicket win.

Upon returning to Australia, Warne took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A against a touring West Indian side in December 1991. The incumbent spinner in the Australian Test team, Peter Taylor, had taken only one wicket in the first two Tests, so Warne was brought into the team for the third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground a week later.

International career

Early international career (1992–1993)

Warne had played in just seven first-class matches before making his debut at Test level for Australia. He had an undistinguished Test debut when called into the Australian team in January 1992 for a Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He took 1/150 (Ravi Shastri caught by Dean Jones for 206) off 45 overs. He took 0/78 in the fourth Test in Adelaide, recording overall figures of 1/228 for the series, and was dropped for the fifth Test on the pace-friendly WACA Ground in Perth. His poor form continued in the first innings against Sri Lanka at Colombo, in which he recorded 0/107. However, on 22 August 1992, he took the last three Sri Lankan wickets without conceding a run in the second innings precipitating a second innings collapse and contributing to a remarkable 16-run Australian win. Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga commented in an interview that, 'a bowler with Test average of more than 300 came and snatched the victory from our hands'.

However, Warne's performances in the last two Tests in Sri Lanka were not to the satisfaction of the selectors, and he was dropped for the First Test against the West Indies in the 1992–93 Australian season. Greg Matthews played in Warne's place and despite Australia being in a strong position on the final day, was unable to dismiss the tourists on a turning surface. Warne was thus recalled for the Second Test in Melbourne, a Boxing Day Test, where he took 7/52 in a match-winning performance in the second innings.

Path to 300 Test wickets (1993–1999)

In 1993, Warne was selected for Australia's Ashes tour of England. He was the leading wicket taker for the six-Test series, with 34. His first ball of the series was written into the history books as the "Ball of the Century", bowling the experienced English batsman Mike Gatting with a ball that turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail. He took 71 Test wickets in 1993, then a record for a spin bowler in a calendar year. New Zealand batsmen contributed significantly to his tally. He took 17 wickets in Australia's tour of New Zealand early in the year, tying Danny Morrison as the top wicket-taker for the series with 17. When New Zealand toured Australia for three Tests in November and December, Warne took 18 more and was named player of the series.

Warne featured in South Africa's tour of Australia in 1993–94 and Australia's return tour in March 1994. In the second Test of South Africa's tour, held at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Warne took ten wickets in a Test for the first time in his career. His 7/56 in the first innings and 5/72 in the second was not enough to secure victory for Australia; Warne was part of an Australian batting collapse on the final day of the Test that handed South Africa the win.

Australia sought to retain The Ashes when England toured for a five Test series in 1994–95. Warne took a career-best 8/71 in the second innings of the first Test at the Gabba, before going on to take 27 wickets in the five-Test series. In the Second Test, a Boxing Day Test at Warne's home ground, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he took his first and only Test hat-trick, dismissing tail-enders Phil DeFreitas, Darren Gough and Devon Malcolm in successive balls, the last of which was caught by David Boon. He also grabbed his 150th test wicket, a caught-and-bowled off Alec Stewart. However, it was with the bat that Warne ultimately secured The Ashes for Australia. In the Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he and fellow tail-ender Tim May survived the final 19 overs on the fifth day in fading light to secure a draw and a 2–0 series lead that meant Australia would retain The Ashes regardless of the result of the fourth and fifth Tests. Later in 1995, he toured the West Indies, taking 15 wickets over four Tests as Australia defeated the West Indies in a Test series for the first time in almost 20 years.

In the summer of 1995–96, Australia played home series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He took 11 wickets in the first Test against Pakistan but broke his toe in the second. Selectors included him in the squad for the third Test just days later to give him the chance to prove his fitness; he did so by taking four wickets in Pakistan's first innings and another four in their second to be named the player of the series.

Warne was to be a key member of Australia's squad for the 1996 World Cup, held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Australia qualified for the final, with Warne having taken 12 wickets, including a man-of-the-match 4/36 in the semi-final against the West Indies. Ahead of the final against Sri Lanka, Australian captain Mark Taylor publicly declared that Warne was not "vital" to his team, emphasising that Warne alone could not win the World Cup. Warne conceded 58 runs for no wickets in the final; Australia lost the match to first-time champions Sri Lanka.

The West Indies toured Australia for a five-Test series in the summer of 1996–97. Warne took 22 wickets in the series, and a further 11 in Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa early in 1997. In the northern summer, Warne returned to England with the Australian team to attempt to retain The Ashes. After struggling for form early in the tour, Warne took 24 wickets at an average of 24.04 as Australia won the six-Test series 3–2.

The following Australian summer (1997–98) saw a continued flow of wickets for Warne. He picked up 19 in New Zealand's three-Test series in Australia, before taking 20 wickets in three Tests against South Africa. In the second of those three, he took five wickets in the first innings and six in the second, while becoming the second Australian after Dennis Lillee to take 300 Test wickets. At the beginning of the summer, the Australian media had criticised Warne for his weight; now, The Australian wrote that he was one of Australia's three most "influential" cricketers (with Donald Bradman and Lillee). Journalist and former English cricketer Derek Pringle observed as Warne passed the 300 Test wicket mark at the age of 28: "we are in the presence of true greatness and not some pretender to the great figures in the game's history."

Later in 1998, Warne was a member of Australia's touring squad of India. Finding Indian food not to his liking, he had spaghetti and baked beans flown in from Australia. With Australia's two top pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie missing the tour due to injury, Warne shouldered more of the bowling burden. He took 10 wickets, but conceding 54 runs each, going for 0/147 in India's only innings of the second and series-winning Test in Calcutta. Warne's dismissal of Rahul Dravid in the first innings of the final test at Bangalore took him past Lance Gibbs' tally of 309 wickets making him the most successful spinner in Test Cricket. Australia lost the series, breaking a run of nine Test series victories.

In early December 1998, the Australian Cricket Board revealed that three years earlier it had fined Warne and Mark Waugh for accepting money from a bookmaker (allegedly a man named John who was Sri Lankan, according to Shane Warne in one of his autobiographies) for giving information about pitch and weather conditions.

Warne did not play international cricket again until the fifth Test of the Ashes series in Australia in January 1999, suffering a shoulder injury. He missed Australia's tour of Pakistan and the first four Ashes Tests. At the time, he was also at the centre of the John the bookmaker controversy. Warne's extended absence from the Australian team gave his understudy Stuart MacGill the opportunity to play in his place. MacGill responded by taking 15 wickets in three Tests against Pakistan—the most for any bowler in the series—and another series-high 27 wickets against England. Warne and MacGill bowled in tandem upon Warne's return to the team for the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where MacGill took 12 wickets and Warne two.

Vice-captaincy of Australia (1999–2000)

Shane Warne's record as captain
	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tied	No result	Win %
ODI	11	10	1	0	0	0	90.91%

The Ashes series was the last for Australian captain Mark Taylor, who retired. Steve Waugh was appointed as Taylor's replacement, while Warne was promoted to the position of vice-captain. However, he was dropped from the Test team during Australia's tour of the West Indies in early 1999. Warne took just two wickets in the first three Tests of the series, leading to calls from the Australian media for his removal from the team. He was replaced for the final Test by off-spinner Colin Miller. Miller and MacGill took eight wickets between them as Australia won the Test to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy. Warne's form recovered in the ODI series against the West Indies, and he was selected to play in the 1999 World Cup in the United Kingdom.

Just before the start of the 1999 World Cup, he was given a fine and a two-match suspended ban by the International Cricket Council for talking to a newspaper about Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, saying: "There is plenty of animosity between Arjuna and myself. I don't like him and I'm not in a club of one". Australia were seeking to win their first Cricket World Cup since 1987. Warne took 12 wickets in the preliminary phases of the tournament as Australia qualified for a semi-final against South Africa. While the match became notable for the dramatic fashion in which it finished, Warne was the man of the match, dismissing four key South African batsmen: Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Hansie Cronje and Jacques Kallis. Australia faced Pakistan in the tournament's Final. Pakistan batted first, and were all out for only 132; Warne took 4/33. Australia chased down the target comfortably to win the World Cup. Warne was the tournament's joint top wicket-taker with Geoff Allott and was named the man of the match in the Final.

After his World Cup performances, Warne was retained as Australia's vice-captain for the tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe later in 1999. The following Australian summer, he played in all Tests of the series against Pakistan and India. He reached his highest score with the bat in the first Test against Pakistan in Brisbane, with 86, before matching that score in the first Test against India in Adelaide the following month. Warne's performances in the Brisbane Test were overshadowed by the Joe the Cameraman controversy, in which a jibe about the abilities of Australian bowler Scott Muller was picked up by an on-field microphone during the match. A Channel Nine cameraman subsequently confessed to making the "can't bowl, can't throw" remark that many had believed was made by Warne. Warne took 18 wickets over the six summer Tests and Australia won both series 3–0. He then took another 15 wickets in Australia's 3–0 sweep of New Zealand in March 2000. In the first Test of the series at Eden Park, he surpassed Dennis Lillee (with 355 wickets) as Australia's leading ever wicket-taker.

Warne joined English county side Hampshire in 2000 and played for them during the year's English summer. Reports emerged that during the county season he had repeatedly sent lewd SMS messages to an English nurse. In August 2000, the Australian Cricket Board removed him as Australia's vice-captain, citing his history of indiscretions off the field. The board's decision was contrary to the wishes of the team's selectors, including captain Steve Waugh. Warne was replaced as vice-captain by Adam Gilchrist. Yet, he was awarded the Men's ODI Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony by Cricket Australia in 2000.

Wickets and injuries (2001–2003)

Warne missed the entire Australian summer of 2000–01 with a finger injury, and found himself battling Stuart MacGill and an in-form Colin Miller to be selected for Australia's tour of India in early 2001. MacGill was ultimately the spinner left out. Warne took 10 wickets over the three-Test series at an average of 50.50. His Indian spin counterpart Harbhajan Singh was the man of the series with 32 wickets at an average of 17.03. Australia lost the series 2–1. In the northern summer of 2001, Warne made his third Ashes tour and took 31 wickets in the five-Test series, which Australia won 4–1. He took three five-wicket hauls in the series. In the final Test at The Oval he took 11 wickets across both innings, including the 400th wicket of his Test career (Alec Stewart). He became the sixth person and the first Australian in the history of cricket to reach the milestone.

In the 2001–02 Australian summer, Australia played home series against New Zealand and against South Africa. Warne took six wickets in three Tests against New Zealand, and in the third Test in Perth made his highest career score with the bat in international cricket. He was caught at mid-wicket off the bowling of Daniel Vettori (off what was later revealed to be a no-ball) while on 99 runs, one run short of a maiden Test century. He took 17 wickets in the three Tests against South Africa—more than any other player—including a five-wicket haul (5/113) in the first innings of the first Test. Warne was again the leading wicket-taker when Australia played a three-Test series in South Africa in February and March 2002, with 20 dismissals. In February 2002, Ricky Ponting replaced Steve Waugh as captain of Australia's ODI squad. The elevation of Ponting—five years younger than Warne—appeared to extinguish any prospect of Warne ever being appointed to captain Australia.

Australia played a three-Test series against Pakistan in October 2002, held in neutral Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. Warne, who had lost weight over the previous months, took 27 wickets, was named the player of the series, and was man of the match in the first Test (with 11 wickets) and the third Test (with eight wickets). He returned to Australia for the Ashes series against England, starting in November 2002. He scored a half-century (57) with the bat in the first Test, before taking 11 wickets in the first three Tests of the series. However, in an ODI in December 2002, he suffered a shoulder injury. The injury not only ruled him out of the remainder of the Ashes series, but put him in doubt for the World Cup, due to commence in February 2003.

Ban from cricket (2003)

In February 2003, a day before the start of the World Cup, Warne was sent home after a drug test during a one-day series in Australia returned a positive result for a banned diuretic. Warne said that he took only one of what he called a "fluid tablet"—the prescription drug Moduretic—given to him by his mother to improve his appearance. A committee established by the Australian Cricket Board found Warne guilty of breaching the board's drug code and imposed a one-year ban from organised cricket.

At the time, Warne took the view that the ban imposed would lengthen his Test playing career, after already having announced that he was going to retire from one-day internationals after the 2003 World Cup, although the ban led him to briefly reconsider that decision which he ultimately stuck with. That Warne was allowed to play in charity matches while serving his one-year ban was criticised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) although WADA, in turn, was criticised by Warne for interfering in the matter.

During his suspension, Warne was hired by the Nine Network, Australia's main free-to-air cricket broadcaster, as a TV commentator. During the winter of 2003, he worked for the St Kilda Australian rules football club in an unpaid consultancy role, after the Australian Football League banned him from holding an official club position because of his drugs ban.

Return to cricket (2004–2006)

Warne returned to competitive cricket following his ban in February 2004. In March, in the first Test of a three-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle, he became the second cricketer after Courtney Walsh to take 500 Test wickets. Warne took five wickets in each innings of the first and second Tests; a further six wickets in the third Test saw him named the player of the series. He broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket on 15 October 2004 during the second Test of Australia's series against India at Chennai. His dismissal of Irfan Pathan, caught at slip by Matthew Hayden, saw him overtake his Sri Lankan rival, Muttiah Muralitharan, with 533 wickets. Muralitharan, who was injured at the time, had taken the record himself from Courtney Walsh five months earlier. Australia won the series 2–1; it was Australia's first series win in India since 1969. Warne's 14 wickets at an average of 30.07 was a marked improvement on his previous performances in India, when in six Tests he had taken 20 wickets at an average of 52 runs each. For his performances in 2004, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC.

On 11 August 2005 at Old Trafford, in the Third Ashes Test, he became the first bowler in history to take 600 Test wickets. In 2005, Warne broke the record for the number of wickets in a calendar year, with 96 wickets. His ferocious competitiveness was a feature of the 2005 Ashes series, when he took 40 wickets at an average of 19.92 and scored 249 runs. Warne shared player of the series honour with England's Andrew Flintoff. For his performances in 2005, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC.

International retirement (2006–2007)

Warne (right) bowling to Ian Bell at The Gabba in Brisbane in 2006

Warne began his 2006/07 Ashes campaign with an indifferent Test in Brisbane and a poor first innings showing in Adelaide. However, his second innings performance, including bowling Kevin Pietersen around the legs, triggered England's fifth-day collapse and Australia's victory. Warne again bowled well in the second innings in the third Test, and took the final wicket of Monty Panesar as Australia regained the Ashes.

On 21 December 2006, Warne announced his retirement, which came into effect after the fifth Ashes Test match at the SCG. Warne said that it was his intention to "go out on top", adding that he might have retired after the 2005 Ashes series had Australia won. In his second-last Test, he took his 700th Test wicket at 3.18 pm on 26 December 2006 (AEST) by bowling English batsman Andrew Strauss out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in what was his final appearance at the ground. This was the first occasion that a player had taken 700 Test wickets. The wicket was described as a "classic Warne dismissal" to which the crowd of 89,155 gave a standing ovation.

Warne's final Test was held at the same venue as his first, 15 years earlier: the Sydney Cricket Ground. Warne ended England's first innings by trapping Monty Panesar lbw for a duck and his 1000th total international wicket. His final Test wicket was that of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, stumped by Adam Gilchrist. He is one of only two bowlers to have taken 1000+ wickets in international cricket, the other being Muttiah Muralitharan. For his performances in 2006, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC and Cricinfo. He was also awarded the Men's Test Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony by Cricket Australia in 2006.

Twenty20 career (2008–2013)

Shane Warne bowling against Sydney Sixers in 2011 during a Big Bash League match

After his retirement from international cricket, Warne was signed as the captain for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2008, fetching US$450,000 in the pre-season player auction. He led the Royals to victory in the first season of the competition. He continued as captain of the Royals for a further four seasons, the 2011 season being his last with the franchise.

Warne bowling at Lord's for the Rajasthan Royals in a Twenty20 match against Middlesex in 2009

Warne was signed as a player for the Melbourne Stars in Australia's inaugural Big Bash League (BBL) in November 2011. The Stars qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament, and Warne took seven wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of 6.74 runs conceded per over.

In 2013 Warne was fined $4500 and banned for one match for using obscene language, making "inappropriate physical contact with a player or official" (Marlon Samuels) and "showing serious dissent at an umpire's decision" during a BBL match against Melbourne Renegades.

In July 2013, he officially retired from all formats confirming that he would no longer captain the Melbourne Stars in the BBL.

In July 2014, he captained the Rest of the World side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.

Wider influence on cricket

Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which many cricket followers had come to regard as a dying art due to the difficulty of bowling the deliveries accurately. Warne helped overturn the domination of cricket by fast bowling that had prevailed for two decades before his debut. In the early 1970s, Australia's fast bowlers Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson had dominated cricket. From 1976 until the early 1990s, the West Indies had lost only one (ill-tempered and controversial) Test series with a bowling attack almost exclusively comprising fast bowlers. From the early 1990s, with the West Indies on the wane, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan were assuming the mantle of the world's most feared fast-bowling combination. It was in this context that Warne's bowling became significant. His dominance—particularly of English and South African batsmen—provided an alternative skill to cricket watchers.

Many of his most spectacular performances occurred in Ashes series against England; in particular, the famous "Gatting Ball", otherwise known as the "Ball of the Century", which spun sharply and bowled a bemused Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series. Conversely, he had struggled against India, particularly against Sachin Tendulkar: his bowling average against India is 47.18 runs per wicket, compared with his overall average of 25. In fairness to Warne, other foreign spinners have also struggled against India in recent years; Warne's contemporary off-spinner rival, Muttiah Muralitharan, for instance, has a much higher bowling average (32.61) in Tests played in India than his overall Test figures. He also was hit for the most sixes by the time he retired, but Warne did not like to be hit for singles, because he had to plan for two batsmen at the same over.

Playing style

Where my ability to spin a cricket ball came from, I honestly don't know. I can only think that I was born with it. I have a skill as a cricketer[,] and fortunately cricket found me.

– Shane Warne

Warne combined the ability to turn the ball prodigiously, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a variation of deliveries (notable among these being the flipper). In the latter stages of his career, variation was less evident despite regular press conferences announcing a "new" delivery for each series he participated in. Gideon Haigh, the Australian journalist, said of Warne upon his retirement: "It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble: the same is true of Warne and spin bowling." Warne did this by having a relaxed 'two finger up, two down grip' with the ball not hitting the top part of the palm.

Warne was an effective lower-order batter, once famously dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot on what, it was later shown, was a no-ball. Warne has scored the most Test runs without having scored a century, with two scores in the nineties being his best efforts (99 and 91). Warne is also third overall in the most international test ducks. Of players who have batted in more than 175 Test innings, his proportion of dismissals by being out bowled is the lowest, at under seven percent.

Warne was a successful slip fielder, with his 125 catches making him 19th in the list of most catches as a fielder in Test cricket history.

Performance analysis

Further information: List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Shane Warne

Warne is the third-highest five-wicket haul taker in the international arena after Muttiah Muralitharan and Richard Hadlee. He took 37 Test fivers and a single ODI fiver, along with 10 Test ten-wicket hauls. In Test cricket, he scored more runs than any other player who never made a century.

Test matches

Versus	Matches	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	5w	10w	Best	Avg	S/R	E/R
Bangladesh	2	87.2	12	300	11	1	0	5 for 113	27.27	47.6	3.43
England	36	1792.5	488	4535	195	11	4	8 for 71	23.25	55.1	2.52
ICC World XI	1	31	7	71	6	0	0	3 for 23	11.83	31.0	2.29
India	14	654.1	139	2029	43	1	0	6 for 125	47.18	91.2	3.10
New Zealand	20	961.4	252	2511	103	3	0	6 for 31	24.37	56.0	2.61
Pakistan	15	675.1	192	1816	90	6	2	7 for 23	20.17	45.0	2.68
South Africa	24	1321.2	367	3142	130	7	2	7 for 56	24.16	60.9	2.37
Sri Lanka	13	527.5	132	1507	59	5	2	5 for 43	25.54	53.6	2.85
West Indies	19	679.4	159	1947	65	3	0	7 for 52	29.95	62.7	2.86
Zimbabwe	1	53.1	13	137	6	0	0	3 for 68	22.83	53.1	2.57
Overall (9)	145	6784.1	1761	17995	708	37	10	8 for 71	25.41	57.4	2.65
Source: Cricinfo

Test 10-Wicket hauls

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	12/128	22	South Africa	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney	Australia	1994
2	11/110	30	England	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Brisbane	Australia	1994
3	11/77	39	Pakistan	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Brisbane	Australia	1995
4	12/109	63	South Africa	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney	Australia	1998
5	11/229	92	England	Kennington Oval	London	England	2001
6	11/188	102	Pakistan	P Sara Oval	Colombo	Sri Lanka	2002
7	10/159	108	Sri Lanka	Galle International Stadium	Galle	Sri Lanka	2004
8	10/155	109	Sri Lanka	Asgiriya Stadium	Kandy	Sri Lanka	2004
9	10/162	125	England	Edgbaston Cricket Ground	Birmingham	England	2005
10	12/246	128	England	Kennington Oval	London	England	2005
Source:

Career-best performances

	Bowling
	Score	Fixture	Venue	Season
Test	8/71	Australia v England	Gabba, Brisbane	1994
ODI	5/33	Australia v West Indies	SCG, Sydney	1996
FC	8/71	Australia v England	Gabba, Brisbane	1994
LA	6/42	Surrey v Hampshire	Whitgift School, Croydon	2006
T20	4/21	Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur	2010

Commentator

Warne regularly worked as a cricket commentator, predominantly on Australia's Nine Network. He commentated during his one-year ban from cricket in 2003.

On 13 July 2005, Nine announced it would not renew Warne's commentating contract, worth around A$300,000 annually, due to incidents in his private life. He later rejoined Nine in 2008, and was a member of its commentary team until Nine lost the broadcasting rights in 2018. He was also signed by Sky Sports in 2009 and Fox Cricket in 2018. He worked at both Sky and Fox up until his death.

Outside cricket

Tsunami humanitarian efforts

He was named in the World XI squad during the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal tournament which was held on 10 January 2005 at Melbourne as a fundraiser to facilitate humanitarian relief efforts following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004.

He joined his long term rival Muttiah Muralitharan in leading the humanitarian efforts to help the people who were adversely affected due to the tsunami. Warne revealed that the devastation caused by the tsunami to Sri Lanka had left him in agony and he raised millions of money to help the underprivileged livelihoods of Sri Lanka.

He pledged a promise to donate sufficient amount of money through his Shane Warne Foundation charity organisation in order to help rebuild the Galle International Cricket Stadium which was affected due to Boxing Day December 2004 tsunami tragedy.

Media

Warne made a cameo on the Australian sitcom Kath & Kim in 2007. Kath & Kim star Magda Szubanski, whose character Sharon Strzelecki was obsessed with Warne, wrote upon Warne's passing: "When we filmed these immortal scenes Warnie proved that he was not just a great sportsman but also a great sport. He played along with our shenanigans and we had loads of fun," adding: "He was a great pasher!"

Warne appeared on a A Question of Sport, taking on the captaincy for three shows and appearing regularly.

In 2010, the Nine Network commissioned a chat show hosted by Warne, entitled Warnie. The program debuted on 24 November 2010, with Warne interviewing James Packer. Celebrities interviewed on the programme included then captain of the Australian cricket team Ricky Ponting, and the singers Chris Martin and Susan Boyle. The programme experienced spiralling audience figures and was axed before its final scheduled episode, although the network denied that it had been cancelled due to poor ratings.

In 2022, less than two months before his death, the documentary Shane: King of Spin was released on Amazon Prime Video.

Endorsements

In 2005, Warne signed a lucrative multi-year sponsorship deal with Messages On Hold. The irony of promoting phone messages after his involvement in several text messaging scandals was not lost on Warne. Several media sources, and even Messages On Hold's own promotional materials quote him as saying, "Trust me with this recommendation – I know a thing or two about spin." Warne also did promotional work for hair-loss-recovery company Advanced Hair. This matter was investigated by the British Advertising Standards Authority in relation to an illegal celebrity endorsement of medical services. For the 2007/08 Australian cricket series, Warne took over as Victoria Bitter spokesperson from David Boon in the Boonanza promotion. Warne had a talking figurine as part of the promotion, which continued from the "Talking Boony" doll. In January 2008, Warne signed a two-year agreement with 888poker to represent them at poker events around the world, including the Aussie Millions, World Series of Poker and the 888 UK Poker Open. This sponsorship agreement ended in January 2015. In 2009, Warne started an underwear line called Spinners.

Investments

Warne was a part-owner of the SevenZeroEight gin distillery. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Warne announced that the company would turn its production from gin to alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

Personal life

Warne was born with complete heterochromia, giving him a blue right eye and a green left eye.

He had three children with Simone Callahan, to whom he was married from 1995 to 2005.

Since his retirement, Warne had been doing "work for the Shane Warne Foundation... [which] assists seriously ill and underprivileged children". Since launching in 2004, the charity distributed £400,000; its activities include a charity poker tournament and a breakfast, and "by the end of our summer, we hope to have raised £1.5 million". The charity closed in 2017 as it had been hemorrhaging money, running at a financial loss for four out of the past five years to that point. Expenses for staging gala dinners, celebrity cricket matches, and annual poker tournaments (its signature fundraising events) had spiralled out of control. In 2014, a particularly bad year, the foundation raised $465,000 but spent $550,000.

In 2000, Warne lost his Australian vice-captaincy after it was discovered that he was sending sexual text messages to a British nurse while still married to Callahan. He was also involved in an altercation with some teenage boys who took a photo of him smoking after he had accepted sponsorship from a nicotine patch company in return for quitting smoking. In April 2007, Warne and his ex-wife were reported to be getting back together two years after divorcing. However, five months later, she again left him after he inadvertently sent her a text message he had intended for another woman.

Following his split from Callahan, Warne dated English actress Elizabeth Hurley. Although the relationship at first seemed short-lived following the disclosure of Warne texting sexual messages to a married Melbourne businesswoman, the couple created a media frenzy when Hurley later moved into Warne's mansion in Brighton, Victoria. They announced that they were engaged in late 2011, but had called off the engagement by December 2013.

In September 2016, a television film about Warne's relationships was announced. Seven Network cancelled the project in the pre-production phase in June 2017.

In August 2021, Warne contracted COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator "to make sure there were no longer-lasting effects". He said, "I had a thumping headache and I had one day where I had the shivers, but sweating, like when you have the flu." He also said that Australians would have to learn to live with the virus.

Death

On 4 March 2022, at the age of 52, Warne died from natural causes at a villa on the island of Ko Samui in Thailand. His death came on the same day as fellow Australian cricket icon Rod Marsh, to whom Warne paid tribute on Twitter only a few hours prior to his own death.

Tributes

Australian teammates Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Glenn McGrath, Tom Moody, Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson, as well as current Australian Test captain Pat Cummins and current Australian limited-overs captain Aaron Finch remembered Warne.

Internationally, many former and current players also paid tribute. They included: Afghanistan's Rashid Khan; England's Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Michael Vaughan, and Joe Root; India's Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Ravi Shastri, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma; Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan; New Zealand's Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor; South Africa's Faf du Plessis and Graeme Smith; Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara; and West Indians Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, and Chris Gayle. Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle also offered a tribute. Muttiah Muralitharan, the only player to take more Test wickets than Warne, said that while they were "competitive on the field", they were "really good friends" off the pitch.

As well as individual tributes, multiple cricket boards also offered their condolences, including Cricket Australia, Sri Lanka Cricket, the BCCI, Cricket West Indies, New Zealand Cricket, and the England and Wales Cricket Board.

A number of well-known political and entertainment figures, as well as other sportspeople, paid tribute. They included Australian actor Russell Crowe; Indian actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn; British comedian Stephen Fry; Australian NBA player Joe Ingles; Australian actor Hugh Jackman; British rock singer Sir Mick Jagger; British pop singer Sir Elton John; the current UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson; former cricketer and the current Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan; Indo-Canadian actor Akshay Kumar; Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue; television talk-show host Piers Morgan; Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York; British pop singer Ed Sheeran; Australian comedian Magda Szubanski; and children's entertainers Anthony Field and Greg Page of the Wiggles.

Warne's former fiancée Elizabeth Hurley paid tribute, saying: "I feel like the sun has gone behind a cloud forever. RIP my beloved lionheart".

Throughout his life, sporting figures such as Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson professed their admiration for Warne. He was also a friend of Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, once performing the harmonica on stage with the band.

The Sri Lankan men's cricket team and the Indian men's cricket team wore black armbands to commemorate Warne on the second day of the first Test, India vs. Sri Lanka, and both teams observed a minute of silence before the day's play. The Australian women's cricket team wore black armbands as well to commemorate Warne in their first 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup game against England. Australia's Alana King, also a leg-spin bowler, said that Warne was "an idol & the biggest inspiration to me" on Twitter before Australia's World Cup match. A similar tribute was held by the Australian men's cricket team on the second day of the first Test vs. Pakistan, and both teams observed a minute of silence before the day's play, as did the Bangladeshi men's cricket team and the Afghan men's cricket team in the 2nd T20I of Afghanistan's tour of Bangladesh. St Kilda's AFL and AFLW sides did likewise during their respective matches against Essendon and Geelong. The England cricket team and West Indies team also held a minute's silence.

One of Warne's former teams, the Rajasthan Royals, made a statement on Twitter that included the final line: "Warnie, you will forever be our captain, leader, Royal. Rest in Peace, legend." Warne had led the underdog team to an IPL title in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League back in 2008, winning with the final delivery of the game. Warne made his elite cricket debut for the St Kilda Cricket Club, so for the game against Dandenong immediately following his death, all players and umpires held a minute's silence before the game.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews offered a state funeral, which the family accepted. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison announced the federal government would support the state funeral and gave his condolences to Warne's family.

Scores of people ornamented his MCG statue with flowers, beer cans and stubbies, baked beans, meat pies and cigarettes, the latter four items being particularly well-known items associated with Warne's tastes.

Recognition

See also: Player of the Match awards (cricket)

Statue of Warne at the MCG

Besides his induction as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, he was named in an all-time Test World XI by the same publication. He was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1997 and 2004.

In 2004, Warne was included as part of Richie Benaud's Greatest XI (a theoretical team that compared players across all teams and eras using statistics and personal testimonials); additionally, was emphatically recognised as being the best spin bowler of all time by both Richie Benaud and the general Australian public, with 85% of respondents in agreement. In 2006, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) by Southampton Solent University.

In 2007, Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket decided to name the Australia–Sri Lanka Test cricket series the Warne–Muralitharan Trophy in honour of Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. Also in 2007, Cricket Australia named Warne in their greatest ODI XI of all time in 2007. In 2009, he was awarded honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club.

On 22 December 2011, a statue honouring Warne was unveiled outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Sculpted by Louis Laumen, the bronze statue depicts Warne during his bowling action with an inscription highlighting his cricketing career. Warne, who was present at the sculpture's unveiling, stated: "It's a great honour, it's a bit weird seeing yourself up there but I'm very proud."

In 2012, a grandstand at the Rose Bowl, where Warne played county cricket for Hampshire, was named the Shane Warne Stand in honour of him. On 5 March 2022, less than 24 hours after Warne's death, the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, announced that the Melbourne Cricket Ground's Great Southern Stand would be renamed the S. K. Warne Stand.

References

Sources

• Warne, Shane (2006). My Illustrated Career. Cassell Illustrated. ISBN 1-84403-543-3.
• Shane Warne's Century – My Top 100 Cricketers by Shane Warne (Mainstream Publishing, 2008) ISBN

External links

• Shane Warne at ESPNcricinfo
• Cricinfo Stats Guru: List of Test wickets for Shane Warne
• Cricket Australia media release congratulating Warne on 500th wicket
• 10 photos of milestone wickets in Warne's career
• Shane's Official Website
• Shane Warne on Twitter