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Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm
leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...
bowler and a right-handed
batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...
for Victoria,
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. He is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the sport; he made 145
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
appearances, taking 708
wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...
s, and set the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, a record he held until 2007. Warne was a useful lower-order batsman who scored more than 3,000 Test runs, with a highest score of 99. He retired from international cricket at the end of Australia's 2006–07 Ashes series victory over England. In the first four seasons of the
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
(IPL), Warne was a player-coach for Rajasthan Royals and also captained the team. During his career, Warne was involved in off-field scandals; his censures included a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, and charges of sexual indiscretions and bringing the game into disrepute. Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, then regarded as a dying art. After retirement, he regularly worked as a cricket commentator and for charities and endorsed commercial products. In recognition of his skill, a statue of Warne bowling was placed outside the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...
(MCG), where he was also honoured with a state memorial service, as well as having a grandstand named in his honour. Warne was posthumously appointed as an
Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...
(AO) for his service to cricket.


Early life

Warne was born in
Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria Upper Ferntree Gully is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 32 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox and Shire of Yarra Ranges local government areas. Upper Ferntree Gully recorded a p ...
, a suburb of
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
, on 13 September 1969, the son of Brigitte 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 (by work and with honour) , city = Mentone , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3194 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Indepen ...
, 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 The Melbourne University Cricket Club, often called simply "University", plays the sport of cricket in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket. The club was founded in 1856 and played its first seaso ...
in the
Victorian Cricket Association Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to ...
's 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 St Kilda Cricket Club, which is located near his home suburb 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 Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
for
St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates ...
's under-19 team. In 1988, Warne again played for the St Kilda Football Club's under-19 team before being promoted to the reserves team, one step below professional level. Following the 1988 Victorian Football League season, St Kilda delisted Warne and he began to focus solely on cricket. In 1990, Warne was chosen to train at the
Australian Cricket Academy The Australian Cricket Academy was founded in 1987 as a joint initiative of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Australian Cricket Board (ACB). It was initially located at Henley Beach in Adelaide before moving to the Allan Border Fi ...
in Adelaide. In 1991, Warne moved to the UK and joined
Accrington Cricket Club Accrington Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which play their home games at Thorneyholme Road Thorneyholme Road is a cricket and former football ground in Accrington, England. It is the home ground of Accrington Crick ...
of the Lancashire League as their professional player for that year's cricket season. After initially struggling in English conditions, he had 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 Warne for the 1992 season because they expected their professional to contribute as both a batsman and bowler.


Domestic career

Warne made his
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
debut on 15 February 1991, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
at
Junction Oval Junction Oval (also known as the St Kilda Cricket Ground, or the CitiPower Centre due to sponsorship reasons) is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The oval's location near the St Kilda J ...
in Melbourne. Warne signed a $400,000 contract to play for Hampshire County Cricket Club in England for the 2000 season. He returned to Hampshire as the captain for the seasons between 2004 and 2007. For Hampshire he scored his only two first class centuries and took 276 wickets at an average of 25.58.


International career


Early international career (1991–1993)

Warne was 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 score 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. In December 1991, upon returning to Australia, Warne took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A against a touring West Indian side. Peter Taylor, the incumbent spinner in the Australian Test team, had taken only one wicket in the first two Tests, so Warne was brought into the team for the third Test against
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
at the
Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association f ...
a week later. Warne had played in seven first-class matches before making his Test-level debut for Australia. He was called into the Australian team in January 1992 for a Test against India at
Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association f ...
(SCG). He took 1/150 (
Ravi Shastri Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri (born 27 May 1962) is the former head coach of the India national cricket team, a cricket commentator and former captain of Indian Cricket Team. As a player, he played for the India national cricket team between 19 ...
caught by Dean Jones for 206) off 45 overs. Warne took 0/78 in the fourth Test in Adelaide, recording overall figures of 1/228 for the series, and was rejected for the fifth Test on the pace-friendly
WACA Ground The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...
in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. Warne's poor form continued in the first
innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is ...
against
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
at
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
, in which he recorded 0/107. On 22 August 1992, however, Warne took the last three Sri Lankan wickets without conceding a run in the second innings, leading to a second-innings collapse and contributing to a 16-run Australian win. Sri Lankan captain
Arjuna Ranatunga Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga ( si, අර්ජුන රණතුංග; ta, அர்ஜூன ரணதுங்க; born 1 December 1963), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and politician, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning capta ...
commented in an interview; "a bowler with Test average of more than 300 came and snatched the victory from our hands". Despite his match-winning spell, Warne was left out of the second Sri Lanka test before taking 0/40 in the third-and-final test of the series. Warne was again left out of the First Test against the West Indies in the 1992–93 Australian season. Greg Matthews played in Warne's place; despite Australia being in a strong position on the final day, they could not dismiss the West Indies on a turning surface. Warne was recalled for the Second Test in Melbourne, a Boxing Day Test in which 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, in which he was the leading wicket-taker for the six-Test series, with 34. His first ball of the series was called the "
Ball of the Century The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is a cricket delivery bowled by Australian spin bowler Shane Warne to English batter Mike Gatting on 4 June 1993, the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashe ...
",
bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
the experienced English batsman Mike Gatting with a ball that turned from well-outside leg stump to clip the off bail. Warne took 71 Test wickets in 1993, a then-record for a spin bowler in a calendar year.
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
batsmen significantly contributed to his tally. Early in 1993, Warne took 17 wickets in Australia's tour of New Zealand, tying Danny Morrison with 17 as the top wicket-taker for the series. When New Zealand toured Australia for three Tests in November and December, Warne took 18 wickets 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 at the SCG, 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; on the Test's final day, Warne was part of an Australian batting collapse and South Africa won the Test. He was named one of the
Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication '' Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in the 1994 ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
''. 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
Brisbane Cricket Ground The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the G ...
(the Gabba), before taking 27 wickets in the five-Test series. In the Second Test, a Boxing Day Test at
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...
(MCG), he took his first-and-only Test
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...
, dismissing tail-enders Phil DeFreitas, Darren Gough and Devon Malcolm in successive balls, the last of which was caught by David Boon. Warne also took his 150th test wicket, a caught-and-bowled off Alec Stewart. Warne secured the Ashes for Australia with the bat. In the Third Test at SCG, he and fellow tail-ender Tim May survived the final 19 overs in fading light on the fifth day 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, Warne toured the West Indies, taking 15 wickets in four Tests as Australia defeated the West Indies in a Test series for the first time in almost 20 years. In the southern-hemisphere summer of 1995–96, Australia played a home series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Warne 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 days later to give him the chance to prove his fitness. Warne took four wickets in Pakistan's first innings and another four in their second, and was named the player of the series. Warne was a key member of Australia's squad for the
1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World C ...
, which was held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Warne took 12 wickets, including a
man-of-the-match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the win ...
4/36 in the semi-final against the West Indies, and Australia qualified for the final. Before the final against Sri Lanka, Australian captain Mark Taylor publicly said Warne was not "vital" to his team and 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 southern-hemisphere summer of 1996–97. Warne took 22 wickets in the series, and a further 11 in Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa in early 1997. In the northern summer of 1997, Warne returned to England with the Australian team to play for the Ashes. After struggling for form early in the tour, Warne took 24 wickets at an average of 24.04 and Australia won the six-Test series 3–2. In the Australian summer of 1997–98, Warne took 19 wickets in New Zealand's three-Test series in Australia and 20 wickets in three Tests against South Africa, in the second of which he took five wickets in the first innings and six in the second, becoming the second Australian after
Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".
to take 300 Test wickets. In late 1997, Australian media criticised Warne for his weight; however, ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' wrote he was one of Australia's three most-influential cricketers, the others being
Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has b ...
and Lillee. Journalist and former English cricketer
Derek Pringle Derek Raymond Pringle (born 18 September 1958) is an English former Test and One Day International cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist. Life and career Pringle was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His father Donald Pringle, who had ...
said 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 tinned spaghetti and baked beans flown in from Australia. Australia's two top pace bowlers
Glenn McGrath Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer who played international cricket for 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler (cricket), bowler and is considered one of the greatest international ...
and
Jason Gillespie Jason Neil Gillespie (born 19 April 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. A right-arm fast bowler, he was also a competent lower-order batsman whose unbeaten 201 in his last Test matc ...
missed the tour due to injury so Warne bowled more often than usual. 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 Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
. Warne's dismissal of
Rahul Dravid Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former List of India national cricket captains, captain of the Indian national cricket team, Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his ...
in the first innings of the final test at
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
took him past Lance Gibbs' tally of 309 wickets, making Warne the most-successful spin bowler in Test Cricket. Australia lost the series, breaking a run of nine Test-series wins. In early December 1998, the
Australian Cricket Board Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
(ACB) said three years earlier it had fined Warne and Mark Waugh for accepting money from a bookmaker for information about pitch and weather conditions; this was called the John the bookmaker controversy. After suffering a shoulder injury, Warne returned to international cricket in the fifth Test of the Ashes series in Australia in January 1999. He missed Australia's tour of Pakistan and the first four Ashes Tests. During Warne's extended absence from the Australian team, his understudy
Stuart MacGill Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill (born 25 February 1971) is an Australian former cricketer who played 44 Test matches and three One Day Internationals for the Australian national cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin bowler, who has been cred ...
played in his place, taking 15 wickets in three Tests against Pakistan and another series-high 27 wickets against England. Upon Warne's return, he and MacGill bowled in tandem to the team for the fifth Ashes Test at SCG, where MacGill took twelve wickets and Warne two.


Vice-captaincy of Australia (1999–2000)

The 1999–2000 Ashes series was the last for Australian captain Mark Taylor, who retired.
Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Austral ...
was appointed as Taylor's replacement while Warne was promoted to vice-captain. Warne, however, was dropped from the Test team during Australia's tour of the West Indies in early 1999. Warne took two wickets in the first three Tests of the series, leading to calls for his removal from the team from Australian media. For the final test, Warne was replaced by off-spinner Colin Miller, who with MacGill took eight wickets between them and Australia won the Test to retain the
Frank Worrell Trophy The Frank Worrell Trophy is awarded to the winner of the West Indies– Australia Test match series in cricket. The trophy is named after Frank Worrell who was the first black captain of the West Indies. It was first awarded at the end of the 1 ...
. Warne's form recovered in the
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(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, the
International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...
(ICC) fined Warne gave him a two-match suspended ban by for talking to a newspaper about Sri Lankan captain
Arjuna Ranatunga Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga ( si, අර්ජුන රණතුංග; ta, அர்ஜூன ரணதுங்க; born 1 December 1963), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and politician, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning capta ...
, 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 wanted to win their first Cricket World Cup since 1987. Warne took 12 wickets in the preliminary phases of the tournament, and Australia qualified for a semi-final against South Africa. The semi-final match became notable for the dramatic fashion in which it finished; Warne was the man of the match, dismissing key South African batsmen
Herschelle Gibbs Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for fourteen years. A right-handed batsman, mostly opened the batting, Gibbs became the first player to hi ...
,
Gary Kirsten Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. He has coached the Indian Cricket Team as well as the South African Cricket team. Kirsten played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for ...
, Hansie Cronje and
Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as South Africa's greatest batsman ever, he is a right-handed batsman and righ ...
. Australia faced Pakistan in the tournament's final. Pakistan batted first and were all out for 132; Warne took 4/33. Australia comfortably reached the target 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 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 Scott Andrew Muller (born 11 July 1971) is a former Australian and Queensland cricketer of German ancestry. State cricket Muller was a fast-medium bowler for the Queensland Bulls in the Sheffield Shield competition who was a solid performer fo ...
controversy, in which an off-field microphone picked up a jibe about the abilities of Australian bowler Scott Muller during the match. A Channel Nine cameraman subsequently confessed to making the "can't bowl, can't throw" remark 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 tour of New Zealand in March 2000. In the first Test of the series at
Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount E ...
,
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
. Warne surpassed Dennis Lillee's 355 wickets as Australia's leading-ever wicket-taker. In 2000, Warne joined English county side
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
, for which he played during the year's northern-hemisphere summer. During the county season, reports Warne had repeatedly sent lewd SMS messages to an English nurse emerged. In August 2000, the ACB removed him as Australia's vice-captain, citing his history of off-field indiscretions. The board's decision was contrary to the wishes of the team's selectors, including captain
Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Austral ...
. Warne was replaced as vice-captain by
Adam Gilchrist Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...
. That year, however, the ACB awarded Warne the Men's ODI Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony.


Wickets and injuries (2001–2003)

Warne missed the entire Australian summer of 2000–01 with a finger injury; he battled
Stuart MacGill Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill (born 25 February 1971) is an Australian former cricketer who played 44 Test matches and three One Day Internationals for the Australian national cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin bowler, who has been cred ...
and an in-form Colin Miller to be selected for Australia's tour of India in early 2001. MacGill was ultimately left out of the squad. Warne took 10 wickets over the three-Test series at an average of 50.50; his Indian spin counterpart
Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...
was the man of the series after taking 32 wickets at an average of 17.03. Australia lost the series 2–1. In the northern summer of 2001, Warne was chosen for 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 The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
, Warne took 11 wickets across both innings, including the 400th wicket of his Test career from Alec Stewart. Warne became the sixth person and the first Australian in the history of cricket to reach 400 wickets. 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 career's highest batting score in international cricket. He was caught at mid-wicket off the bowling of
Daniel Vettori Daniel Luca Vettori (born 27 January 1979) is a New Zealand cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the New Zealand national cricket team. He was the 200th player to win their Test cricket cap for New Zealand. Vettori was the younge ...
, which later revealed to be a
no-ball In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially a ...
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, with 20 dismissals, was again the leading wicket-taker when Australia played a three-Test series in South Africa in February and March 2002. In February 2002,
Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...
replaced
Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Austral ...
as captain of Australia's ODI squad. The promotion of Ponting, who was five years younger than Warne, appeared to end any prospect of Warne ever being appointed to the captaincy of Australia. In October 2002, Australia played a three-Test series against Pakistan in neutral states 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 2002 – 03 Ashes series against England, starting in November 2002. In the first Test, he scored 57 with the bat and took 11 wickets in the first three Tests of the series but suffered a shoulder injury in an ODI in December 2002. The injury ruled him out of the remainder of the Ashes series and him in doubt for the World Cup, which would begin 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 A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of ...
during a one-day series in Australia returned a positive result for a banned
diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics i ...
. Warne said he took only one of what he called a "fluid tablet"—the prescription drug Moduretic—which his mother had given him to improve his appearance. A committee established by the ACB found Warne guilty of breaching the board's drug code and imposed a one-year ban from organised cricket. After having announced he would retire from ODIs after the 2003 World Cup, Warne took the view the ban would lengthen his Test-playing career, although it led him to briefly reconsider his decision to retire from ODIs. Warne was allowed to play in charity matches while serving his one-year ban, a decision that was criticised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which Warne criticised for interfering in the matter. During his suspension, Australia's main free-to-air cricket broadcaster
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
hired Warne as a television commentator. During mid-2003, Warne worked for the
St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates ...
, an
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
club, in an unpaid consultancy role after the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...
(AFL) 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 Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best ...
to take 500 Test wickets. Warne took five wickets in each innings of the first and second Tests, and a further six wickets in the third Test, and was named the player of the series. on 15 October 2004, during the second Test of Australia's series against India at
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, he broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket. Warne's dismissal of Irfan Pathan, who was caught at slip by
Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Jus ...
, saw him overtake his Sri Lankan rival
Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...
with 533 wickets. Muralitharan, who was injured at the time, had taken the record 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 an improvement on his previous performances in India, when in six Tests he took 20 wickets at an average of 52 runs each. For his performances in 2004, the ICC named him in the World Test XI. On 11 August 2005 in the Third Ashes Test at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...
, Warne became the first bowler in history to take 600 Test wickets. In 2005, with 96 wickets, Warne broke the record for the number of wickets in a calendar year. Warne's ferocious competitiveness was a feature of the 2005 Ashes series in which he took 40 wickets at an average of 19.92 and scored 249 runs. Warne shared the player of the series honour with England's
Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...
. For his performances in 2005, the ICC named Warne in the World Test XI.


International retirement (2006–2007)

Warne began the 2006–07 Ashes series with an indifferent Test performance in Brisbane and a poor performance in the first innings in Adelaide, where he took no wickets. His second-innings performance, however, including bowling
Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England bet ...
around the legs, triggered England's fifth-day collapse and Australia's win. Warne again bowled well in the third Test's second innings, and took the final wicket of Monty Panesar as Australia regained the Ashes. On 21 December 2006, Warne announced he would retire at the end of the 2006–07 Ashes series at SCG. In his penultimate Test, he took his 700th Test wicket on 26 December 2006 by bowling out English batsman
Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the Englan ...
at MCG in his final appearance there. This was the first occasion a player had taken 700 Test wickets. The wicket was described as a "classic Warne dismissal", which the crowd of 89,155 gave a standing ovation. Warne's final Test was held at SCG, same venue as his first 15 years earlier. Warne ended England's first innings by trapping Monty Panesar
leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead in ...
for a
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
and took his 1,000th international wicket. Warne's final Test wicket was that of England's all-rounder
Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...
, who was stumped by
Adam Gilchrist Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...
. Warne is one of only two bowlers to have taken more than 1,000 wickets in international cricket, the other being
Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...
. For his performances in 2006, the ICC and
Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...
named Warne in the World Test XI. Also in 2006, the ACB—which was now renamed Cricket Australia (CA)—awarded Warne the Men's Test Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony.


Twenty20 career (2008–2013)

After his retirement from international cricket, Warne was signed as the captain of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008, fetching US$450,000 in the pre-season player auction. Warne 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 was his last with the franchise. Warne was signed as a player for Melbourne Stars in Australia's inaugural
Big Bash League The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash Le ...
(BBL) in November 2011. The Stars qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament, in which 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 Marlon Nathaniel Samuels (born 5 February 1981) is a former Jamaican cricketer who played internationally for the West Indies in all three formats, and a former ODI captain. He is a right-handed middle order batsman and an off-spinner. He was ...
and "showing serious dissent at an umpire's decision" during a BBL match against Melbourne Renegades. In July 2013, Warne officially retired from all formats of cricket, confirming he would no longer captain Melbourne Stars in the BBL. In July 2014, Warne captained the Rest of the World side in the
Bicentenary Celebration match The Bicentenary Celebration match was a 50-over exhibition cricket match played on 5 July 2014 at Lord's Cricket Ground, London, to mark the 200th anniversary of the ground, which was first used in 1814 and is considered the "home of cricket" ...
at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England ...
. In February 2018, Rajasthan Royals appointed Warne as their team mentor for the IPL 2018.


Wider influence on cricket

Warne is widely considered as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. He revolutionised cricket with his mastery of
leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...
, which many cricket followers had come to regard as a dying art due to the difficulty of accurately bowling the deliveries. Warne helped overturn the domination of cricket by
fast bowling Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...
that had prevailed for twenty years before his debut. In the early 1970s, Australia's fast bowlers Dennis Lillee and
Jeff Thomson Jeffrey Robert Thomson (born 16 August 1950) is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he is one of the fastest bowlers in the history of cricket; he bowled a delivery with a speed of 160.6 km/h against the West Indies in Pert ...
dominated cricket. From around 1977 until the early 1990s, the West Indies lost only one ill-tempered and controversial Test series with a bowling attack almost exclusively composed of four fast bowlers. From the early 1990s, with the West Indies in decline,
Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI (Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the great ...
and
Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several crit ...
of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
were becoming the world's most-feared fast-bowling combination. In this context, Warne's bowling became significant. His dominance, particularly of English and South African batsmen, provided cricket audiences with an alternative skill. Many of Warne's most spectacular performances occurred in Ashes series against
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
; in particular, the "Gatting Ball", otherwise known as the "
Ball of the Century The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is a cricket delivery bowled by Australian spin bowler Shane Warne to English batter Mike Gatting on 4 June 1993, the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashe ...
", which drifted significantly out of the hand, pitching well outside Leg Stump and sharply spun past the front of the bat, clipping the top of Off Stump, bowling a bemused Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series. Warne had struggled against
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, particularly against
Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...
; Warne's bowling average against India was 47.18 runs per wicket compared with his overall average of 25. Warne also was hit for the most sixes by the time he retired; Warne said he did not like to be hit for singles because he had to plan for two batsmen at the same over.


Playing style

According to Warne: Warne combined the ability to prodigiously turn the ball, even on unhelpful pitches, with regular accuracy and a variation of deliveries—notable among these is the flipper. In the later stages of his career, variation was less evident despite regular press conferences announcing a "new" delivery for each series he participated in. When Warne retired, Australian journalist
Gideon Haigh Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh (born 29 December 1965) is an English-born Australian journalist and non-fiction author who writes about sport (especially cricket), business and crime in Australia. He was born in London, was raised in Ge ...
wrote: "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" of the ball and not hitting it against the top part of the palm. Warne was a fierce and dramatic competitor. Gideon Haigh wrote about what he called Warne's pageantry and measured theatricality, including his exaggerated appeals, intimidation of batters, sledging, flirting with umpires, and time-wasting, all of which added to his competitiveness. Warne said the "part of the art of bowling spin is to make the batsman think that something special is happening even when it isn't". Warne was an effective lower-order batter; he was once dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot on what was later shown to be a
no-ball In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially a ...
. Warne has scored the most Test runs without having scored a century; his top scores were 99 and 91. He also scored the third-most international Test ducks. Of players who have batted in more than 175 Test innings, Warne's proportion of dismissals by being bowled out is the lowest, at under seven per cent. Warne was a successful
slip fielder In cricket, a slip fielder (collectively, a ''slip cordon'' or ''the slips'') is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many te ...
; he made 125 catches—the 19th-most catches as a fielder in Test cricket history.


Performance analysis

Shane Warne was the third-highest
five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...
-taker in international cricket, after Muttiah Muralitharan and Richard Hadlee. He took 37 Test fivers and a single ODI fiver, along with 10 Test ten-wicket hauls.


Test matches


Test 10-wicket hauls


Career-best performances


Commentator

After his retirement, Warne became a television cricket commentator. On 13 July 2005,
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
announced it would not renew his commentating contract, for which he was paid around A$300,000 annually, due to incidents in his private life. He rejoined Nine in 2008 and continued as a member of its commentary team until Nine lost the broadcasting rights in 2018. Warne was also signed by
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
in 2009 and Fox Cricket in 2018. He worked for both Sky and Fox until his death.


Outside cricket

Sri Lanka was affected by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...
. Warne joined Muttiah Muralitharan in humanitarian efforts to help people who were adversely affected. His charity the
Shane Warne Foundation Shane Warne Foundation was an Australian not-for-profit organisation founded in 2004 by former cricketer Shane Warne. The organisation closed in 2017 following a regulatory investigation and controversy over its finances. History Warne founded ...
donated AU$20,000 to help rebuild Galle International Stadium. Warne was named in the World XI squad during the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal tournament, which was held in Melbourne on 10 January 2005 to raise funds for post-tsunami humanitarian relief efforts. Warne made a cameo appearance on the Australian sitcom ''
Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim,'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom created by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who portray the title characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her self-indulgent daughte ...
'' in 2007. He also appeared on
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
panel game '' A Question of Sport'', taking on the captaincy for three shows and appearing regularly. In January 2008, Warne signed a two-year agreement with 888poker to represent them at international poker events, including the
Aussie Millions The Australian Poker Championship, commonly known as Aussie Millions, is a series of poker tournaments held at the Crown Casino, in Melbourne, Australia. The Main Event of the series is the Southern Hemisphere's richest poker tournament with a ...
,
World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pl ...
and the 888 UK Poker Open. This sponsorship agreement ended in January 2015. In 2010, Nine Network commissioned a chat show titled ''Warnie'', which was hosted by Warne. The program debuted on 24 November 2010 with Warne interviewing
James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
. Celebrities interviewed on the program included the captain of the Australian cricket team
Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...
, and singers Chris Martin and
Susan Boyle Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the Britain's Got Talent (series 3), third series of ''Britain's Got Talent'', singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from '. Bo ...
. Warne also did promotional work for hair-loss-recovery company Advanced Hair; the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated this matter in relation to an illegal celebrity endorsement of medical services.


Personal life

From 1999 to 2005, Warne was married to Simone Callahan, with whom he had children Summer, Jackson and Brooke. In 2000, Warne lost the Australian vice-captaincy after it was discovered 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 photograph of him smoking after he had accepted sponsorship from a nicotine patch company in return for quitting smoking. In April 2007, Warne and Callahan were reported to be reuniting two years after their divorce. Five months later, however, Callahan again left Warne after he inadvertently sent her a text message he had intended for another woman. Following his split from Callahan, Warne dated English actor
Elizabeth Hurley Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model. As an actress, her best-known film roles have been as Vanessa Kensington in ''Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in ''Bedazzled (2000 ...
. Although their relationship at first seemed short-lived following the disclosure that Warne was sending sexual messages to a married Melbourne businesswoman, the couple created a media frenzy when Hurley moved into Warne's mansion in Brighton, Victoria. In late 2011, Hurley and Warne announced they were engaged, but they had cancelled the engagement by December 2013. Warne later said, "I was more in love with Elizabeth than I'd realised I could be. I miss the love we had. My years with Elizabeth were the happiest of my life." After retiring from cricket, Warne worked for the
Shane Warne Foundation Shane Warne Foundation was an Australian not-for-profit organisation founded in 2004 by former cricketer Shane Warne. The organisation closed in 2017 following a regulatory investigation and controversy over its finances. History Warne founded ...
, which assisted seriously ill and underprivileged children.The Times, 27 November 2004, p.75 "How England can avoid falling under the spell of Muralitharan the magician", by Shane Warne The charity was launched in 2004 and distributed £400,000; its activities included a charity poker tournament. The charity closed in 2017 after running at a financial loss for four of the five previous years. In 2014, the foundation raised $465,000 but spent $550,000. In August 2021, Warne contracted
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
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", and that Australians would have to learn to live with the virus. Warne was born with complete heterochromia, giving him a blue right eye and a green left eye.


Death

On 4 March 2022, at the age of 52, Warne died of a suspected heart attack while holidaying on the island
Ko Samui Ko Samui (or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; th, เกาะสมุย, ) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko ...
, Thailand. Warne died on the same day as fellow Australian cricketer Rod Marsh, to whom Warne paid tribute on Twitter a few hours before his own death. Six days after Warne's death, his body was returned from Thailand to Melbourne on a private aeroplane. Warne's private funeral took place on 20 March 2022 in Melbourne at Moorabbin Oval, the headquarters and former home ground of
St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates ...
. The mourners were led by Warne's parents and three children, and some former teammates were in attendance. On 30 March, Warne was publicly honoured at a state memorial event at Melbourne Cricket Ground.


Tributes

Australian teammates
Adam Gilchrist Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...
,
Jason Gillespie Jason Neil Gillespie (born 19 April 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. A right-arm fast bowler, he was also a competent lower-order batsman whose unbeaten 201 in his last Test matc ...
,
Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Jus ...
,
Andrew Symonds Andrew Symonds (9 June 1975 – 14 May 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, who played all three formats as a batting all-rounder. Commonly nicknamed "Roy", he was a key member of two World Cup winning squads. Symonds played as a r ...
, Brett Lee,
Darren Lehmann Darren Scott Lehmann (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who coached the Australian national team. Lehmann made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection fo ...
,
Glenn McGrath Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer who played international cricket for 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler (cricket), bowler and is considered one of the greatest international ...
,
Tom Moody Thomas Masson Moody (born 2 October 1965) is a former Australian international cricketer and current Director of Cricket of Sri Lanka Cricket. He ended his long tenure with the Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad in August 2022 and ...
,
Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...
and Shane Watson, as well as Australian Test captain
Pat Cummins Patrick James Cummins (born 8 May 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in Test and ODI cricket. He is a fast bowler and right-handed batsman. He plays domestically for New South Wales. Cum ...
and Australian limited-overs captain
Aaron Finch Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is a Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in T20I and formerly captained the national team in ODI cricket. Finch currently holds the record for two of the three hi ...
remembered Warne. Outside Australia, many former and current cricketers also paid tribute, including England's
Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England bet ...
and
Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England captain for the test team from 2003 to 2008, the one-day international team from 200 ...
; India's
Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...
and Virat Kohli; New Zealand's
Brendon McCullum Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer representing New Zealand, who played all formats, including as captain. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably recording the f ...
and
Kane Williamson Kane Stuart Williamson (born 8 August 1990) is a New Zealand cricketer who is currently the captain of the New Zealand national team in limited overs cricket. He is considered as New Zealand's greatest batsmen ever, as well as one of the best b ...
; Pakistan's
Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several crit ...
and
Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI (Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the great ...
; South Africa's
Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held t ...
; and West Indies'
Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing rec ...
. Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle also offered a tribute. To commemorate Warne, the
Australian women's cricket team The Australian women's national cricket team (formerly also known as the Southern Stars) represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Meg Lanning and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all wor ...
wore black armbands in their first
2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...
game against
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. A similar tribute was held by the Australian men's cricket team on the second day of the first Test against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, with both teams observing a minute of silence before the day's play. Celebrities, including Warne's close friend Chris Martin of
Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
,
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,
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,
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,
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...
and Magda Szubanski, also paid their respects. Warne's former fiancée Elizabeth Hurley said: "I feel like the sun has gone behind a cloud forever. RIP my beloved lionheart." Fans ornamented the statue of Warne at MCG with flowers, beer, baked beans, meat pies and cigarettes. Warne's former Big Bash League team, the Melbourne Stars are set to pay tribute to Warne during their game against the
Hobart Hurricanes The Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men's T20 franchise cricket team based in Tasmania, Australia. They compete in Australia's domestic T20 cricket competition known as the Big Bash League, which is a league where many int ...
. During the match, all the Stars players will be wearing Warne's number 23, and a standing ovation will take place after the 23rd ball of the game. The Stars will then retire the number 23 following the game.


State memorial service

Warne's state memorial service was held on the evening of 30 March 2022 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The service, which was free to attend and ran for around 140 minutes, was attended by about 55,000 people, broadcast on multiple channels and streamed online. The service was ultimately watched by more than 1.5 million Australians. The memorial was opened by Greta Bradman,
Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has b ...
's granddaughter, who performed the national anthem "
Advance Australia Fair "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, sung in Australia as a patriotic song. It first replaced " God Save the Queen" as th ...
"; the service included eulogies from Warne's children, his father, his brother Jason, and other family members and friends. During his eulogy, Warne's father said, "Shane said of himself, 'I smoked, I drank, and I played a little cricket. It was earlier decided the Great Southern Stand at MCG was to be renamed in Warne's honour. To conclude the memorial, Warne's children unveiled the Shane Warne Stand sign with a recording of
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
singing " My Way" playing in the background as the crowd rose and cheered.


Awards and recognition

In 2000, a panel of cricket experts chose Warne as one of five ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected and the only one who was still playing at the time. The same publication named Warne in an all-time Test World XI and he was 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 team chosen by Richie Benaud that compares players across all teams and eras using statistics and personal testimonials. Warne was chosen as the best spin bowler of all time by both Benaud and the Australian public, with 85% of respondents in agreement. In 2007,
Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
and
Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national sports body. The board was rename ...
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 2009, Warne was awarded honorary life membership of
Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...
. On 22 December 2011, a statue honouring Warne was unveiled outside MCG. The bronze statue was sculpted by Louis Laumen and depicts Warne during his
bowling action In the sport of cricket, the bowling action is the set of movements that result in the bowler releasing the ball in the direction of the batsman. The bowling action can be broken down into a number of parts: * Grip *Approach *Bound (pre deliv ...
and has 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 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 The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fe ...
. In a fan poll conducted by the ''Cricketers' Almanack'' in 2017, Warne was named in Australia's best Ashes XI of the previous 40 years. In June 2022, on the
Queen's Birthday Honours list The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...
, Warne was posthumously appointed as an
Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...
(AO) for his service to cricket and philanthropic contributions. In December 2022, Warne was elevated to a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.


In popular culture

In September 2022 it was reported that Australia's Nine Network had begun work on ''Warnie'', a two-part biopic about Warne's life, within weeks of his death, describing the film as a fitting tribute. But friends and family of Warne described the project as insensitive and urged the broadcaster to scrap the film, feeling it was too soon after his death to make a film.


References


Sources

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


External links


Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warne, Shane 1969 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers Australian cricket captains Australian cricket coaches Australian cricket commentators Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees Australian cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in India Australian Institute of Sport cricketers Australian memoirists Australian people of Cornish descent Australian people of German descent Australian poker players Australian sportspeople in doping cases BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from Melbourne Deaths in Thailand Doping cases in Australian cricket Hampshire cricket captains Hampshire cricketers I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) participants ICC World XI One Day International cricketers Indian Premier League coaches Melbourne Stars cricketers Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Mentone Grammar School Rajasthan Royals cricketers Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Test cricket hat-trick takers Victoria cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Century Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World