Shane Warne
Encyclopedia
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricket
er widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century
, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet and the only one still playing at the time. He is also a cricket commentator and a professional poker player.
Warne played his first Test match
in 1992, and his 708 wickets was the record for the most wicket
s taken by any bowler in Test cricket, until it was broken by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan
on 3 December 2007. He took over 1000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals)—he was the second bowler to reach this milestone after Muttiah Muralitharan
. A useful lower-order batsman, Warne also scored over 3000 Test runs, and he holds the record for most Test runs without a century. His career was plagued by scandal
s off the field; these included a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, charges of bringing the game into disrepute through accepting money from bookmakers and marital infidelities.
As well as Australia, he also played Australian 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.
He retired from international cricket in January 2007, at the end of Australia's 5–0 Ashes series victory
over England. Three other players integral to the Australian team at the time, Glenn McGrath
, Damien Martyn
and Justin Langer
, also retired from Tests at the same time which led some, including the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting
, to declare it the "end of an era".
Following his retirement from international cricket, Warne played a full season at Hampshire in 2007. He had been scheduled to appear in the 2008 English cricket season, but in late March 2008 he announced his retirement from playing first-class cricket
in order to be able to spend more time pursuing interests outside of cricket. In March 2008, Warne signed to play in the Indian Premier League
for the Jaipur
team, Rajasthan Royals
in the first edition of the tournament, where he played the roles of both captain and coach. He led his team to victory against the Chennai Super Kings
in a cliffhanger of a final match on 1 June 2008.
in the then Victorian Cricket Association under 16 Dowling Shield competition. He bowled a mixture of leg-spin and off-spin and was also a handy lower order batsman.
The following season he joined the St Kilda Cricket Club
near his home town of Black Rock
. He started in the lower elevens and over a number of seasons progressed to the first eleven. He was later chosen to train at the Australian Cricket Academy
in Adelaide.
Warne joined English team Accrington Cricket Club
in 1991. He enjoyed a good season with the ball, taking 73 wickets at 15.4 each, but scored only 330 runs at an average of 15.0. The committee at Accrington Cricket Club decided not to re-engage him for the 1992 Lancashire League season as he was seen not to be good enough.
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. His best performance was 7/52 in a four-day match. Upon returning to Australia, Warne took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A
against India
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.
caught by Dean Jones
for 206) off 45 overs
, and recorded figures of 1/228 in his first Test series; he took 0/78 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide 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, a spell of 3/11 in the second innings precipitated the hosts' second innings collapse and contributed to a remarkable Australian win.
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, where he took 7/52 in a match-winning performance in the second innings.
, Warne was sent home after a drug test
during a one-day series in Australia returned a positive result for a banned diuretic
.
Warne initially claimed that he took only one of what he called a "fluid tablet" – the prescription drug
Moduretic – in an attempt to improve his appearance.
In the end, the panel found Warne guilty of breaching the ACB's drug code, and imposed a one-year ban. It was further revealed, and confirmed by Warne in a subsequent television interview, that he had actually taken two of the pills. The substance he took is banned because it can be used to mask the presence of other drugs. The Judge in the case found both Shane Warne and his mother's testimony to be "unreliable".
At the time, Warne took the view that the ban imposed would lengthen his Test playing career. 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, he considered working for the St Kilda Australian rules football
club as an assistant coach, before the Australian Football League
told the club that it would be inappropriate to have somebody suspended for a drug offence advising its players. He also received invitations to play in various celebrity "park cricket" teams, and the newly renamed Cricket Australia
reversed its decision on whether Warne, as a contracted player, should be allowed to play in such matches. He also became a TV commentator for Channel 9
in Australia during this time.
In March 2004, Warne became the second cricketer after Courtney Walsh
of the West Indies
to take 500 Test wickets. He broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket on 15 October 2004 during the Second Test against India at Chennai
, overtaking his great spin bowling
rival, Muttiah Muralitharan
of Sri Lanka
. 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 also 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 began his 2006/07 Ashes campaign with an indifferent Test in Brisbane and a poor first innings showing in Adelaide. However, his second innings heroics, including bowling Kevin Pietersen
around the legs, triggered England's fifth-day collapse and Australia's historic 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
. He became the first cricketer to reach the 700-wicket milestone in his second last Test, on Boxing Day 2006. 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. Warne achieved 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 almost certainly his final appearance at the ground. This was the first occasion that a player had taken 700 career wickets. The wicket was described as a "classic Warne dismissal" to which the crowd of 89,155 gave a standing ovation.
In the last match of the 2006 Ashes Series at the SCG, Sydney spectators bade him farewell in his very last Test match, just as they witnessed his Test debut on 2 January 1992. Thus, a career spanning exactly 15 years ended where it all began.
In this final Test, 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 the wicket of English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff
, stumped by Adam Gilchrist
near the end of Day 3.
In 2007, Cricket Australia
and Sri Lanka Cricket
decided to name the Australia- Sri Lanka Test cricket series, Warne-Muralidaran Trophy
in honour of Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan
in the Indian Premier League 2008, leading them to victory in the first season of the competition. Warne is to continue as captain of the Royals in the 2011 season.
in the Big Bash League
in November 2011.
that had prevailed for two decades before his debut. Despite the presence of high quality spin bowlers such as the Indian spin quartet
of the 1970s or Abdul Qadir
on the Test scene, Australia's fast bowlers Dennis Lillee
and Jeff Thomson
had dominated cricket in the early 1970s. Furthermore, 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. In 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 bowling combination. It was in that context that Warne's tormenting of batsmen became so significant rather than his actual statistics. His humiliation of Mike Gatting and subsequent dominance, in particular, of English and South African batsmen, provided a welcome sight for cricket watchers weary of the relentless intimidation by West Indian bowlers of the 1980s and 1990s. His treatment of South African batsman Daryl Cullinan was such that Cullinan was said to have sought the help of a therapist to overcome Warne's psychological hold.
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."
Many of his most spectacular performances have 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 has struggled against India
, particularly against Sachin Tendulkar
: his bowling average
against India is 47.18 runs per wicket, compared with his overall average of less than 26. 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 (39.58 as at 2009) in Tests played in India than his overall Test figures.
As well as his Test career Warne has been highly effective bowling in one-day cricket
, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. He also captained Australia on several occasions in One Day Internationals, winning ten matches and losing only one. Warne was instrumental in helping Australia win the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England. His performances in the semifinal against South Africa and in the final against Pakistan helped him get Man of the Match Awards. Warne had intended to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the 2003 World Cup: as it transpired, his last game for Australia was in January 2003. However, he did appear for the ICC World XI for the Tsunami benefit match
in 2005.
Warne is also noted for his exuberant (and sometimes effective) lower-order batting
, once famously being dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot on what was later shown to be a no ball
. In fact, of all Test cricketers 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. In 2006 Warne and Glenn McGrath
reportedly lost a bet of which bowler would be the first to get a Test century with fellow Australian bowler Jason Gillespie
after Gillespie scored a record double-century as a nightwatchman
against Bangladesh.
Warne has also been a successful slip fielder
, and is currently seventh in the list of most catches as a fielder in test cricket.
who in 1994–95 gave money to Australian cricketers
Mark Waugh
and Shane Warne, in return for pitch
and weather information. However, the players claim to have refused to divulge more strategic material, such as team tactics and player selection policies. One of the most publicised of a series of betting controversies in cricket
in the 1990s, the matter was initially covered-up by the Australian Cricket Board
(ACB), who decided that it was sufficient to privately fine the players. The ACB concluded that, since Waugh and Warne had previously accused Pakistani cricket captain Saleem Malik
of attempting to bribe them to lose matches, their credibility as witnesses would be damaged if their own involvement with John was publicised. The ACB reported the matter to the International Cricket Council
, and there the matter ended.
When the issue was uncovered by the media in late-1998, the two players were widely condemned by the press and public, as was the ACB for their cover-up. Waugh received a hostile reaction from the Australian public when he walked out to bat during a Test match
immediately after the news broke. On the other hand, the sports community was generally supportive of the players. The ACB appointed Rob O'Regan
QC
to conduct an independent inquiry into the matter. O'Regan concluded that the fines were inadequate and wrote that a suspension for a "significant time" would have been a more appropriate penalty. He strongly condemned the players' behaviour and their failure as role models for young fans. O'Regan further added that players needed to be better informed about the dangers of gambling and unauthorised bookmakers.
The controversy prompted Pakistan to ask the two Australian players to appear in front of their own judicial inquiry into corruption; Australia responded by granting the Pakistanis permission to hold hearings in Australia with full privileges. The players were questioned about their accusations against Malik, and whether their dealings with John detracted from their credibility. Both Waugh and Warne denied any suggestions they played with less determination in the matches in question, pointing to the fact that they were among the leading players in the matches that they claimed were subjected to offers of bribery.
in a column in The Times
, when he was quoted as saying "There is plenty of animosity between Arjuna and myself. I don't like him and I'm not in a club of one." After this incident, the Australian Cricket Board ruled that newspaper columns by players had to be cleared by the team management before going to print.
announced it would not renew Warne's commentating contract, worth around A$300,000 annually. Warne had previously been seen as a future member of the Nine cricket commentary team, and had done commentary work during his one-year ban from cricket in 2003. He later rejoined Nine in 2008, and was signed by Sky Sports
in 2009.
Warne took over from Ally McCoist
as a team captain on the BBC
television sports quiz A Question of Sport
in September 2007.
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 program 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.
scandals was not lost on the spin bowler. 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 does 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. In response to the investigation Warne stated "There's only one thing that worries me, and that's hair loss." He also does an ad with commentator Mark Sheridan, which is also pending investigation. They both wear brown in this ad as a protest to the British Advertising Standards Authority
.
Warne has also endorsed the Codemaster video games Shane Warne Cricket and Shane Warne Cricket '99. Outside Australia these were known as Brian Lara Cricket and Brian Lara Cricket '99.
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 888 Poker (owned by 888 Holdings PLC
, a public listed company in London) to represent them at poker events around the world including the Aussie Millions
, World Series of Poker
and the 888 UK Poker Open.
, Victoria. Shane Warne went to Oakleigh South Primary School for 1 year as well as being Captain of Cricket at Mentone Grammar where he attended High School on a sporting scholarship. He has three children – Brooke, Summer and Jackson with his ex-wife Simone Callahan.
Since retirement, Warne has been doing "work for the Shane Warne Foundation... [which] assists seriously ill and underprivileged children." Since launching in 2004, the charity has distributed £400,000; Warne is organising a poker tournament and a breakfast and "by the end of our summer, we hope to have raised £1.5million."
a woman whilst on tour in South Africa, accused of sending lewd and harassing messages. However, the woman who made the claims was subsequently charged with extortion
in her own country.
In 2000, he had been stripped of the Australian vice-captaincy after bombarding a British nurse with erotic text messages. He was also involved in an altercation with some teenage boys who took a photo of him smoking; Warne had accepted a sponsorship of a nicotine patch company in return for quitting smoking.
Further allegations of Warne having extramarital affairs broke in 2005 as Australia began its tour of England in preparation for The Ashes
. On 25 June 2005, Warne and his wife Simone Callahan announced that they had decided to separate.
On 7 May 2006, the News of the World
tabloid newspaper published pictures of Warne standing in his underwear with a pair of 25-year-old models, as well as explicit text messages allegedly from Warne.
On 1 April 2007, Warne and his wife were reported to be getting back together. However, in September 2007, Simone returned to Australia from England after her husband had accidentally sent a text message meant for another woman to her phone.
Warne's history of high-profile marital infidelities inspired Australian singer-songwriter Kevin Bloody Wilson
's 2003 music video entitled "The Shane Warne Song" as well as lines in Tim Minchin
's "Some People Have It Worse Than Me" and "The JLA Song".
kissing, Warne announced via his Twitter account that he and Simone had separated a couple of months ago, but only his close friends and family had been informed of this,. Although the relationship with Hurley at first seemed short-lived following the disclosure of Warne texting salacious messages to a married Melbourne businesswoman the couple created a media frenzy when Hurley later moved in for a short period to Warne's Brighton mansion.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century
Wisden Cricketers of the Century
The Wisden Cricketers of the Century are five cricketers who were judged to be the most prominent players of the 20th century, as selected by a 100-member panel of cricket experts appointed by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000...
, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet and the only one still playing at the time. He is also a cricket commentator and a professional poker player.
Warne played his first Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in 1992, and his 708 wickets was the record for the most wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s taken by any bowler in Test cricket, until it was broken by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
on 3 December 2007. He took over 1000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals)—he was the second bowler to reach this milestone after Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
. A useful lower-order batsman, Warne also scored over 3000 Test runs, and he holds the record for most Test runs without a century. His career was plagued by scandal
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
s off the field; these included a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, charges of bringing the game into disrepute through accepting money from bookmakers and marital infidelities.
As well as Australia, he also played Australian domestic cricket for his home state of Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
, and English domestic cricket for Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
. He was captain of Hampshire for three seasons, from 2005 to 2007.
He retired from international cricket in January 2007, at the end of Australia's 5–0 Ashes series victory
2006-07 Ashes series
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for the Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 Ashes series...
over England. Three other players integral to the Australian team at the time, Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
, Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
and Justin Langer
Justin Langer
Justin Lee Langer AM is a former international cricketer who represented Australia in 105 Test matches and the current Assistant Coach and Batting Coach of the Australian cricket team. A left-handed batsman, his opening partnership with Matthew Hayden was one of the most successful of all time...
, also retired from Tests at the same time which led some, including the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
, to declare it the "end of an era".
Following his retirement from international cricket, Warne played a full season at Hampshire in 2007. He had been scheduled to appear in the 2008 English cricket season, but in late March 2008 he announced his retirement from playing first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
in order to be able to spend more time pursuing interests outside of cricket. In March 2008, Warne signed to play in the Indian Premier League
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
for the Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
team, Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals is an Indian Premier League franchise based on the city of the Jaipur captained and coached by former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.They were the champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League...
in the first edition of the tournament, where he played the roles of both captain and coach. He led his team to victory against the Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu that plays in the Indian Premier League. Founded in 2008, the team is currently captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming, a former New Zealand cricketer. The team's home ground is the M. A...
in a cliffhanger of a final match on 1 June 2008.
Youth and early cricket career
Warne's first representative honours came when in 1983/84 season he represented University of Melbourne Cricket ClubUniversity of Melbourne Cricket Club
The University of Melbourne 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 season of premier cricket in 1906–07. Known as...
in the then Victorian Cricket Association under 16 Dowling Shield competition. He bowled a mixture of leg-spin and off-spin and was also a handy lower order batsman.
The following season he joined the St Kilda Cricket Club
St Kilda Cricket Club
St Kilda Cricket Club is a cricket club in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket.Its home ground is the St Kilda Cricket Ground, often called the Junction Oval.-History:...
near his home town of Black Rock
Black Rock, Victoria
Black Rock is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Black Rock had a population of 5796.-History:...
. He started in the lower elevens and over a number of seasons progressed to the first eleven. He was later chosen to train at the Australian Cricket Academy
Australian Cricket Academy
The Australian Cricket Academy, originally located at Henley Beach in Adelaide, was formed in 1987 as a joint initiative of the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Cricket Board . It was designed to be a finishing school for leading young cricketers and is a program within the AIS...
in Adelaide.
Warne joined English team Accrington Cricket Club
Accrington Cricket Club
Accrington Cricket Club are a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which play their home games at Thorneyholme Road in Accrington. For the 2011 season their captain is Jimmy Hayhurst and their professional is Ashar Zaidi....
in 1991. He enjoyed a good season with the ball, taking 73 wickets at 15.4 each, but scored only 330 runs at an average of 15.0. The committee at Accrington Cricket Club decided not to re-engage him for the 1992 Lancashire League season as he was seen not to be good enough.
First-class debut
Warne made his first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut on 15 February 1991, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
against Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
at the Junction Oval
Junction Oval
The Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
in Melbourne. He was then selected for the Australia B team which toured Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in September 1991. His best performance was 7/52 in a four-day match. Upon returning to Australia, Warne took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A
Australia A cricket team
The Australia A cricket team is a cricket team representing Australia and is the second team of the Australian cricket team. They have also played far more one-day than first-class matches; indeed they have played only three first-class games against equivalent A sides, against South Africa A in...
against India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in December 1991. The incumbent spinner in the Australian Test Team, Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor (cricketer)
For other people named Peter Taylor, see Peter Taylor.Peter Laurence Taylor is a former Australian cricketer who played in 13 Tests and 83 ODIs from 1987 to 1992....
, had taken only one wicket in the first two tests, so Warne was brought into the team for the Third Test against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
a week later.
Early international career
Warne had an undistinguished Test debut, taking 1/150 (Ravi ShastriRavi Shastri
Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri is a former Indian cricketer and captain. He was an all–rounder who batted right-handed and bowled left arm spin. His international career started when he was 18 years old and lasted for 12 years...
caught by Dean Jones
Dean Jones (cricketer)
Dean Mervyn Jones AM is a retired Australian cricketer, and is presently a coach. He also worked as a media commentator.-Career:...
for 206) off 45 overs
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
, and recorded figures of 1/228 in his first Test series; he took 0/78 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide and was dropped for the Fifth Test on the pace-friendly WACA Ground in Perth. His poor form continued in the first innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
at Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, in which he recorded 0/107. However, a spell of 3/11 in the second innings precipitated the hosts' second innings collapse and contributed to a remarkable Australian win.
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
Greg Matthews
Gregory Richard John "Mo" Matthews is a former New South Wales and Australian cricketer who is now a television cricket commentator....
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, where he took 7/52 in a match-winning performance in the second innings.
Ban from cricket
In February 2003, just prior to the start of the 2003 Cricket World Cup2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
, Warne was sent home after a drug test
Drug test
A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen – for example urine, hair, blood, sweat, or oral fluid / saliva – to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites...
during a one-day series in Australia returned a positive result for a banned diuretic
Diuretic
A diuretic provides a means of forced diuresis which elevates the rate of urination. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics increase the excretion of water from bodies, although each class does so in a distinct way.- Medical uses :...
.
Warne initially claimed that he took only one of what he called a "fluid tablet" – the prescription drug
Prescription drug
A prescription medication is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a medical prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription...
Moduretic – in an attempt to improve his appearance.
In the end, the panel found Warne guilty of breaching the ACB's drug code, and imposed a one-year ban. It was further revealed, and confirmed by Warne in a subsequent television interview, that he had actually taken two of the pills. The substance he took is banned because it can be used to mask the presence of other drugs. The Judge in the case found both Shane Warne and his mother's testimony to be "unreliable".
At the time, Warne took the view that the ban imposed would lengthen his Test playing career. That Warne was allowed to play in charity matches while serving his one year ban was criticised by the World Anti-Doping Agency
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency , , is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee . It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of what was called the "Declaration of Lausanne", to promote, coordinate and...
(WADA) although WADA, in turn, was criticised by Warne for interfering in the matter.
During his suspension, he considered working for the St Kilda Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club as an assistant coach, before the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
told the club that it would be inappropriate to have somebody suspended for a drug offence advising its players. He also received invitations to play in various celebrity "park cricket" teams, and the newly renamed Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, 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 Cricket...
reversed its decision on whether Warne, as a contracted player, should be allowed to play in such matches. He also became a TV commentator for Channel 9
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
in Australia during this time.
Return to cricket
Warne returned to competitive cricket following his ban in February 2004.In March 2004, Warne became the second cricketer after Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh
Courtney Andrew Walsh is a former international cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches...
of the West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
to take 500 Test wickets. He broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket on 15 October 2004 during the Second Test against India at Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, overtaking his great spin bowling
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
rival, Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. On 11 August 2005 at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
, in the Third Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
Test, he became the first bowler in history to take 600 Test wickets. In 2005, Warne also 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.
International retirement
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
around the legs, triggered England's fifth-day collapse and Australia's historic victory. Warne again bowled well in the second innings in the third Test, and took the final wicket of Monty Panesar
Monty Panesar
Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009...
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
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. He became the first cricketer to reach the 700-wicket milestone in his second last Test, on Boxing Day 2006. 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. Warne achieved his 700th test wicket at 3.18 pm on 26 December 2006 (AEST
Time in Australia
Australia uses Standard time, i.e: the same well defined time for a region. The proper names of Australia's time zones are Australian Western Standard Time , Australian Central Standard Time , and Australian Eastern Standard Time...
) by bowling English batsman Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, in what was almost certainly his final appearance at the ground. This was the first occasion that a player had taken 700 career wickets. The wicket was described as a "classic Warne dismissal" to which the crowd of 89,155 gave a standing ovation.
In the last match of the 2006 Ashes Series at the SCG, Sydney spectators bade him farewell in his very last Test match, just as they witnessed his Test debut on 2 January 1992. Thus, a career spanning exactly 15 years ended where it all began.
In this final Test, Warne ended England's first innings by trapping Monty Panesar lbw
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
for a duck and his 1000th total international wicket. His final Test wicket was the wicket of English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
, stumped by Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
near the end of Day 3.
In 2007, Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, 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 Cricket...
and Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket, formerly the Board for Cricket Control in Sri Lanka , is the controlling body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lankan cricket team and first-class cricket within Sri Lanka....
decided to name the Australia- Sri Lanka Test cricket series, Warne-Muralidaran Trophy
Warne-Muralidaran Trophy
The Warne-Muralidaran Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Australia – Sri Lanka Test cricket series from 2007/08 season onwards. The trophy is named after the two leading wicket takers in Test cricket, Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's Shane Warne...
in honour of Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
Indian Premier League
After his retirement from international cricket, Warne was signed as the captain for Rajasthan RoyalsRajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals is an Indian Premier League franchise based on the city of the Jaipur captained and coached by former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.They were the champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League...
in the Indian Premier League 2008, leading them to victory in the first season of the competition. Warne is to continue as captain of the Royals in the 2011 season.
Big Bash League
Warne was signed as a player for the Melbourne StarsMelbourne Stars
The Melbourne Stars is a franchise in Australia's newly announced Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League. The Stars will wear a green kit....
in the Big Bash League
Big Bash League
The KFC t20 Big Bash League is the Australian domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament. The Big Bash League replaces the previous competition, the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash and will feature city-based franchises instead of the state teams which had participated previously. The inaugural season will begin...
in November 2011.
Playing style and influence
After an inauspicious start to his Test career, Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which many cricket followers had come to regard as a dying art due to its immense difficulty of execution. For all his on-pitch and off-pitch controversies, Warne's place in cricketing posterity has been assured by the fact that he has overturned the domination of cricket by fast bowlingFast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
that had prevailed for two decades before his debut. Despite the presence of high quality spin bowlers such as the Indian spin quartet
Indian spin quartet
The Indian spin quartet is the collective name given to the Indian spin bowlers of the 1960s and 70s: Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan , Bhagwat Chandrasekhar , and Bishen Singh Bedi . Between them, they played 231 Test matches taking 853 wickets...
of the 1970s or Abdul Qadir
Abdul Qadir (cricketer)
Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani international cricketer, later commentator and was recently the Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket Board. He resigned from the post because of his differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket board...
on the Test scene, Australia's fast bowlers Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
and Jeff Thomson
Jeff Thomson
Jeffrey Robert Thomson is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he was one of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket and was the opening partner of fellow fast bowler Dennis Lillee; their combination was one of the most fearsome in Test cricket history...
had dominated cricket in the early 1970s. Furthermore, 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. In the early 1990s, with the West Indies on the wane, Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis Maitla is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time...
and Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
of Pakistan were assuming the mantle of the world's most feared bowling combination. It was in that context that Warne's tormenting of batsmen became so significant rather than his actual statistics. His humiliation of Mike Gatting and subsequent dominance, in particular, of English and South African batsmen, provided a welcome sight for cricket watchers weary of the relentless intimidation by West Indian bowlers of the 1980s and 1990s. His treatment of South African batsman Daryl Cullinan was such that Cullinan was said to have sought the help of a therapist to overcome Warne's psychological hold.
Warne combined the ability to turn
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
the ball prodigiously, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a variation of deliveries (notable among these being the flipper
Flipper (cricket)
The flipper is the name of a particular bowling delivery used in cricket, generally by a leg spin bowler. In essence it is a back spin ball. Squeezed out of the front of the hand with the thumb and first and second fingers, it keeps deceptively low after pitching and can accordingly be very...
) 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
Gideon Haigh
Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh is an English-born Australian journalist, who writes about sport and business. He was born in London of a Yorkshire father and an Australian mother, and was raised in Geelong, Victoria.- Career :Haigh has been writing about sport and business for over...
, 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."
Many of his most spectacular performances have occurred in Ashes series against England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
In particular, the famous "Gatting Ball", otherwise known as the "Ball of the Century
Ball of the Century
The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is the name given to a cricket delivery bowled by Australia's Shane Warne to England's Mike Gatting. The event occurred on day two of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, which took place at Old Trafford,...
" which spun sharply and bowled a bemused Mike Gatting
Mike Gatting
Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988...
in the 1993 Ashes series. Conversely, he has struggled against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
, particularly against Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
: his bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
against India is 47.18 runs per wicket, compared with his overall average of less than 26. In fairness to Warne, other foreign spinners have also struggled against India in recent years; Warne's contemporary off-spinner rival, Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
, for instance, has a much higher bowling average (39.58 as at 2009) in Tests played in India than his overall Test figures.
As well as his Test career Warne has been highly effective bowling in one-day cricket
One-day cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...
, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. He also captained Australia on several occasions in One Day Internationals, winning ten matches and losing only one. Warne was instrumental in helping Australia win the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England. His performances in the semifinal against South Africa and in the final against Pakistan helped him get Man of the Match Awards. Warne had intended to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the 2003 World Cup: as it transpired, his last game for Australia was in January 2003. However, he did appear for the ICC World XI for the Tsunami benefit match
World Cricket Tsunami Appeal
The World Cricket Tsunami Appeal was an effort by the International Cricket Council to raise funds to support the humanitarian relief efforts following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004. It was scheduled to be held over two games but was reduced to one due to an over-crowded...
in 2005.
Warne is also noted for his exuberant (and sometimes effective) lower-order batting
Batting (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...
, once famously being dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot on what was later shown to be a no ball
No ball
In the sport of cricket a no ball is a penalty against the fielding team, usually as a result of an illegal delivery by the bowler. The delivery of a no ball results in one run to be added to the batting team's score, and an additional ball must be bowled...
. In fact, of all Test cricketers 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. In 2006 Warne and Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
reportedly lost a bet of which bowler would be the first to get a Test century with fellow Australian bowler Jason Gillespie
Jason Gillespie
Jason Neil Gillespie is an Australian cricketer who formerly represented Australia at international level, in both Tests and One Day Internationals, and South Australia, Yorkshire and Glamorgan at first-class level. His primary role is as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, but he is also a competent...
after Gillespie scored a record double-century as a nightwatchman
Nightwatchman (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batsman who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play...
against Bangladesh.
Warne has also been a successful slip fielder
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
, and is currently seventh in the list of most catches as a fielder in test cricket.
Controversies
Despite nearly universal recognition of Warne's talents, his reputation with fans and cricket authorities is mixed, owing to a succession of intemperate actions in both his professional and his private life.Bookmakers
"John" or "John the bookmaker" is the name given to an Indian bookmakerBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
who in 1994–95 gave money to Australian cricketers
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
Mark Waugh
Mark Waugh
Mark Edward Waugh AM is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game. His nickname is "Junior" as...
and Shane Warne, in return for pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
and weather information. However, the players claim to have refused to divulge more strategic material, such as team tactics and player selection policies. One of the most publicised of a series of betting controversies in cricket
Betting controversies in cricket
Cricket has had a number of controversies relating to players being involved with the betting aspects of the game. In particular, numerous players have been approached by bookmakers and bribed to, throw matches, aspects of matches Cricket has had a number of controversies relating to players being...
in the 1990s, the matter was initially covered-up by the Australian Cricket Board
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, 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 Cricket...
(ACB), who decided that it was sufficient to privately fine the players. The ACB concluded that, since Waugh and Warne had previously accused Pakistani cricket captain Saleem Malik
Saleem Malik
Saleem Malik is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1981/82 and 1999, at one stage captaining the Pakistani cricket team. He was a right-handed wristy middle order batsman who was strong square of the wicket. His legbreak bowling was also quite effective...
of attempting to bribe them to lose matches, their credibility as witnesses would be damaged if their own involvement with John was publicised. The ACB reported the matter to the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
, and there the matter ended.
When the issue was uncovered by the media in late-1998, the two players were widely condemned by the press and public, as was the ACB for their cover-up. Waugh received a hostile reaction from the Australian public when he walked out to bat during a Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
immediately after the news broke. On the other hand, the sports community was generally supportive of the players. The ACB appointed Rob O'Regan
Rob O'Regan
Rob O'Regan is an Australian Barrister and former head of the Queensland Criminal Justice Commission. He is also known for his involvement with the Australian Red Cross, gaining the position of chairman in 2001....
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
to conduct an independent inquiry into the matter. O'Regan concluded that the fines were inadequate and wrote that a suspension for a "significant time" would have been a more appropriate penalty. He strongly condemned the players' behaviour and their failure as role models for young fans. O'Regan further added that players needed to be better informed about the dangers of gambling and unauthorised bookmakers.
The controversy prompted Pakistan to ask the two Australian players to appear in front of their own judicial inquiry into corruption; Australia responded by granting the Pakistanis permission to hold hearings in Australia with full privileges. The players were questioned about their accusations against Malik, and whether their dealings with John detracted from their credibility. Both Waugh and Warne denied any suggestions they played with less determination in the matches in question, pointing to the fact that they were among the leading players in the matches that they claimed were subjected to offers of bribery.
Newspaper column
Warne was charged with bringing the game into disrepute in 1999 following his comments about the Sri Lankan captain Arjuna RanatungaArjuna Ranatunga
Arjuna Ranatunga is a retired Sri Lankan cricketer and politician. He was the captain of Sri Lankan cricket team, and led them to an unbeaten title-winning campaign at the 1996 Cricket World Cup...
in a column in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, when he was quoted as saying "There is plenty of animosity between Arjuna and myself. I don't like him and I'm not in a club of one." After this incident, the Australian Cricket Board ruled that newspaper columns by players had to be cleared by the team management before going to print.
Media
On 13 July 2005, Australia's Nine NetworkNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
announced it would not renew Warne's commentating contract, worth around A$300,000 annually. Warne had previously been seen as a future member of the Nine cricket commentary team, and had done commentary work during his one-year ban from cricket in 2003. He later rejoined Nine in 2008, and was signed by Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
in 2009.
Warne took over from Ally McCoist
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch "Ally" McCoist, MBE ; 24 September 1962) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Rangers in Scotland....
as a team captain on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television sports quiz A Question of Sport
A Question of Sport
A Question of Sport is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 2 December 1968 and continues to this day. It is currently recorded at The Studios, MediaCityUK...
in September 2007.
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
James Packer
James Douglas Packer is an Australian businessman.Packer is the son of the late media mogul Kerry Packer and grandson of Frank Packer. He inherited the family company, Consolidated Press Holdings Limited, which controls investments in Crown Limited, Consolidated Media Holdings and other companies...
. Celebrities interviewed on the programme included then captain of the Australian cricket team Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
, and the singers Chris Martin
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
and Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from ...
. The program 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.
Endorsements
In 2005, Shane Warne signed a lucrative multi-year sponsorship deal with Messages On Hold. The irony of Warne promoting On Hold phone messages after weathering the ignominy of several SMS/text messagingText messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
scandals was not lost on the spin bowler. 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 does promotional work for hair-loss-recovery company Advanced Hair. This matter was investigated by the British Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
in relation to an illegal celebrity endorsement of medical services. In response to the investigation Warne stated "There's only one thing that worries me, and that's hair loss." He also does an ad with commentator Mark Sheridan, which is also pending investigation. They both wear brown in this ad as a protest to the British Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
.
Warne has also endorsed the Codemaster video games Shane Warne Cricket and Shane Warne Cricket '99. Outside Australia these were known as Brian Lara Cricket and Brian Lara Cricket '99.
For the 2007/08 Australian cricket series, Warne took over as Victoria Bitter
Victoria Bitter
Victoria Bitter is one of the many iconic beers manufactured in the Australian state of Victoria. VB currently maintains the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia, both on tap and packaged...
spokesperson from David Boon
David Boon
David Clarence Boon MBE , nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1995...
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 888 Poker (owned by 888 Holdings PLC
Cassava Enterprises
888 Holdings plc is a company which operates several high-profile gambling websites. It was founded in 1997 and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index....
, a public listed company in London) to represent them at poker events around the world including the Aussie Millions
Crown Australian Poker Championship
The Australian Poker Championship, commonly known as Aussie Millions, is a series of poker tournaments held at the Crown Casino, in Melbourne, Australia...
, World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
and the 888 UK Poker Open.
Personal life
Warne was born in Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria to parents Keith and Bridgette, and grew up in Black RockBlack Rock, Victoria
Black Rock is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Black Rock had a population of 5796.-History:...
, Victoria. Shane Warne went to Oakleigh South Primary School for 1 year as well as being Captain of Cricket at Mentone Grammar where he attended High School on a sporting scholarship. He has three children – Brooke, Summer and Jackson with his ex-wife Simone Callahan.
Since retirement, Warne has been doing "work for the Shane Warne Foundation... [which] assists seriously ill and underprivileged children." Since launching in 2004, the charity has distributed £400,000; Warne is organising a poker tournament and a breakfast and "by the end of our summer, we hope to have raised £1.5million."
Marital infidelities
Warne's private life has been beset by scandals and subjected to scrutiny by British tabloid newspapers. He came under criticism for text messagingText messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
a woman whilst on tour in South Africa, accused of sending lewd and harassing messages. However, the woman who made the claims was subsequently charged with extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
in her own country.
In 2000, he had been stripped of the Australian vice-captaincy after bombarding a British nurse with erotic text messages. He was also involved in an altercation with some teenage boys who took a photo of him smoking; Warne had accepted a sponsorship of a nicotine patch company in return for quitting smoking.
Further allegations of Warne having extramarital affairs broke in 2005 as Australia began its tour of England in preparation for The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. On 25 June 2005, Warne and his wife Simone Callahan announced that they had decided to separate.
On 7 May 2006, the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
tabloid newspaper published pictures of Warne standing in his underwear with a pair of 25-year-old models, as well as explicit text messages allegedly from Warne.
On 1 April 2007, Warne and his wife were reported to be getting back together. However, in September 2007, Simone returned to Australia from England after her husband had accidentally sent a text message meant for another woman to her phone.
Warne's history of high-profile marital infidelities inspired Australian singer-songwriter Kevin Bloody Wilson
Kevin Bloody Wilson
Kevin Bloody Wilson is a comedy singer/songwriter who uses his heavy Australian accent/style with great success...
's 2003 music video entitled "The Shane Warne Song" as well as lines in Tim Minchin
Tim Minchin
Timothy David "Tim" Minchin is a British-Australian comedian, actor, and musician.Tim Minchin is best known for his musical comedy, which has featured in six CDs, three DVDs and a number of live comedy shows which he has performed internationally. He has also appeared on television in Australia,...
's "Some People Have It Worse Than Me" and "The JLA Song".
Relationships post divorce
On 12 December 2010, following press reports and footage of him and English actress Elizabeth HurleyElizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Jane Hurley is an English model and actress who became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. In 1994, as Grant became the focus of worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hurley accompanied him to the film's Los...
kissing, Warne announced via his Twitter account that he and Simone had separated a couple of months ago, but only his close friends and family had been informed of this,. Although the relationship with Hurley at first seemed short-lived following the disclosure of Warne texting salacious messages to a married Melbourne businesswoman the couple created a media frenzy when Hurley later moved in for a short period to Warne's Brighton mansion.
Recognition
- He was chosen as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the YearWisden Cricketers of the YearThe 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"...
for 1994. - In 2000, Warne was named by a 100-member panel of experts as the fourth of five Wisden Cricketers of the CenturyWisden Cricketers of the CenturyThe Wisden Cricketers of the Century are five cricketers who were judged to be the most prominent players of the 20th century, as selected by a 100-member panel of cricket experts appointed by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000...
Warne received 27 votes, behind Sir Donald BradmanDonald BradmanSir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
(100 votes), Sir Garfield SobersGarfield SobersSir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers AO, OCC is a former cricketer who captained West Indies. His first name of Garfield is variously abbreviated as Gary or Garry. He is widely regarded as one of cricket's greatest ever all-rounders, having excelled at all the essential skills of batting, bowling and...
(90 votes), and Sir Jack HobbsJack HobbsSir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
(30 votes). Sir Viv RichardsViv RichardsSir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
took the fifth place, with 25 votes. Warne was the only active cricketer to be placed in the top 10. - Warne is one of the four Australian cricketers to have been named in "Richie Benaud's Greatest XIRichie Benaud's Greatest XIRichie Benaud’s Greatest XI is the title of a 2004 DVD in which cricketing doyen Richie Benaud selected an imaginary cricket team, from the best players available from all countries and all eras...
" in 2004. (Don Bradman, Dennis LilleeDennis LilleeDennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
and Adam GilchristAdam GilchristAdam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
are the others) - In 2005 he was named as winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas PersonalityBBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas PersonalityThe BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport in that year. The award is decided by a...
for his performance in the 2005 Ashes. - Warne appeared on 6 and 7 July episode of the popular Australian soap NeighboursNeighboursNeighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
on behalf of his charitable foundation. - In 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Southampton Solent UniversitySouthampton Solent UniversitySouthampton Solent University is a university of 17,000 students based in Southampton, United Kingdom. Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre....
for services to cricket. - He is a huge fan of the St Kilda Football Club and played in their 2nds side
- Former Australian Test Cricket captain Kim Hughes described Warne as the "Donald Bradman of bowling" following the announcement of Warne's intention to retire.
- He is one of four Australian cricketers to have his portrait hang in the Long RoomLong RoomThe Long Room is a notable, historic room at Lord's cricket ground, in St John's Wood, London."The most evocative four walls in world cricket", the Long Room is situated in the Pavilion.-Function:...
at Lord's Cricket GroundLord's Cricket GroundLord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, London; the ground is known as the "home of cricket". The others were Victor TrumperVictor TrumperVictor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
, Sir Donald Bradman and Keith MillerKeith MillerKeith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
. He is also the only one to have it hanging while he was still playing. - A musical comedy was based on his life: Shane Warne: The MusicalShane Warne: The MusicalShane Warne: The Musical is a musical comedy based on the life of Australian cricketer Shane Warne. First performed at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne on 10 December 2008, the musical was written by Eddie Perfect and directed by Neil Armfield...
. - The Melbourne Cricket Club has decided to honour Warne, by inaugurating a statue of him outside the Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. It is expected that Warne's statue will be unveiled by the end of 2011.
Test wicket milestones
| Milestone | Batsman | Country | Method | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (First) | Ravi Shastri Ravi Shastri Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri is a former Indian cricketer and captain. He was an all–rounder who batted right-handed and bowled left arm spin. His international career started when he was 18 years old and lasted for 12 years... |
India Indian cricket team The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status.... |
Caught Caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. Being caught out is the most common method of dismissal at higher levels of competition... DM Jones Dean Jones (cricketer) Dean Mervyn Jones AM is a retired Australian cricketer, and is presently a coach. He also worked as a media commentator.-Career:... |
Sydney Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
1991/92 |
| 50 | Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain OBE is a former Essex and England cricketer.Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06,... |
England English cricket team The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end... |
Caught DC Boon David Boon David Clarence Boon MBE , nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1995... |
Nottingham Trent Bridge Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of... |
1993 |
| 100 | Brian McMillan Brian McMillan Brian Mervin McMillan played 38 Tests and 78 One Day Internationals for South Africa from 1991 to 1998... |
South Africa South African cricket team The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status... |
LBW Leg before wicket In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's... |
Adelaide Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide... |
1993/94 |
| 150 | Alec Stewart Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team... |
England | Caught and Bowled | Melbourne Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light... |
1994/95 |
| 200 | Chaminda Vaas Chaminda Vaas Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas , usually known as Chaminda Vaas, is a Sri Lankan cricketer is regarded as the best fast bowler to have come out of the country - he has been described as the 'most penetrative and successful new-ball bowler Sri Lanka have had'... |
Sri Lanka Sri Lankan cricket team The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation... |
Caught IA Healy Ian Healy Ian Andrew Healy is a former cricketer who played for Queensland and Australia. A specialist wicketkeeper and useful right-hand middle-order batsman, he made an unheralded entry to international cricket in 1988, after only six first-class games. His work ethic and combativeness was much needed... |
Perth WACA Ground The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association.... |
1995/96 |
| 250 | Alec Stewart Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team... |
England | Bowled Bowled Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler... |
Manchester | 1997 |
| 300 | Jacques Kallis Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both... |
South Africa | Bowled | Sydney | 1997/98 |
| 350 | Hrishikesh Kanitkar Hrishikesh Kanitkar Hrishikesh Hemant Kanitkar is an Indian cricketer and the son of former Indian cricketer Hemant Kanitkar. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler.... |
India | LBW | Melbourne | 1999/2000 |
| 400 | Alec Stewart Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team... |
England | Caught AC Gilchrist Adam Gilchrist Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national... |
The Oval The Oval The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval... |
2001 |
| 450 | Ashwell Prince Ashwell Prince Ashwell Gavin Prince is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa. A left-handed middle order batsman, he has a high-batted stance and is strong through the offside. He is noted for his gritty style of batting and also for being an athletic fielder in the covers... |
South Africa | Caught ME Waugh Mark Waugh Mark Edward Waugh AM is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game. His nickname is "Junior" as... |
Durban | 2002 |
| 500 | Hashan Tillakaratne Hashan Tillakaratne Hashan Prasantha Tillakaratne is a Sri Lankan cricketer and a politician.-Cricket career:As a schoolboy in 1986, he was selected to play against England B at Galle, scoring a century to save the match. He played in his first One Day International in November 1986, and emerged into the Sri Lankan... |
Sri Lanka | Caught A Symonds Andrew Symonds Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling.... |
Galle Galle International Stadium Galle International Stadium is a cricket stadium in Galle, Sri Lanka, situated near the Galle fort and fringed on two sides by the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world... |
2004 |
| 550 | James Franklin | New Zealand New Zealand cricket team The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the... |
LBW | Adelaide | 2004/05 |
| 600 | Marcus Trescothick Marcus Trescothick Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established... |
England | Caught AC Gilchrist | Manchester | 2005 |
| 650 | Ashwell Prince Ashwell Prince Ashwell Gavin Prince is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa. A left-handed middle order batsman, he has a high-batted stance and is strong through the offside. He is noted for his gritty style of batting and also for being an athletic fielder in the covers... |
South Africa | LBW | Perth | 2005/06 |
| 700 | Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots... |
England | Bowled | Melbourne | 2006/07 |
| 708 (Last) | Andrew Flintoff Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top... |
England | Stumped AC Gilchrist | Sydney | 2006/07 |
See also
- Ball of the CenturyBall of the CenturyThe Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is the name given to a cricket delivery bowled by Australia's Shane Warne to England's Mike Gatting. The event occurred on day two of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, which took place at Old Trafford,...
- List of cricket incidents
- List of doping cases in sport
Sources
- Shane Warne's Century – My Top 100 Cricketers by Shane Warne (Mainstream Publishing, 2008) ISBN
External links
- Shane's Poker Blog
- http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?sdb=player;playerid=2000;class=testplayer;filter=basic;team=0;opposition=0;notopposition=0;season=0;homeaway=0;continent=0;country=0;notcountry=0;groundid=0;startdefault=1992-01-02;start=1992-01-02;enddefault=2005-10-17;end=2005-10-17;tourneyid=0;finals=0;daynight=0;toss=0;scheduledovers=0;scheduleddays=0;innings=0;result=0;followon=0;seriesresult=0;captain=0;keeper=0;dnp=0;recent=;runslow=;runshigh=;batposition=0;dismissal=0;viewtype=bow_dismissallist;bowposition=0;ballslow=;ballshigh=;bpof=0;overslow=;overshigh=;conclow=;conchigh=;wicketslow=;wicketshigh=;dismissalslow=;dismissalshigh=;caughtlow=;caughthigh=;caughttype=0;stumpedlow=;stumpedhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtypeCricinfo 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
- VB Warnie – Summer of Spin
- Shane's Official Blog