Shane Warne

Shane Keith Warne (born September 13, 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), is an Australian cricketer, and captain of Hampshire. He is one of the greatest leg spin bowlers in cricket history. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Since October 2004, he has held the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, and in August 2005, he became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets. He has, however, been plagued by scandals off the field throughout his playing career.

Career

Warne made his first-class cricket debut in 1990-91, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. With Australia searching for a leg spin bowler for its Test team, Warne was selected in the Australia B team which toured Zimbabwe in September 1991. His best performance was 7/52 in a four-day match. Back home, he took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A against the West Indies in December 1991, and was rushed into the team for the Third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground a week later.

Related Topics:
First-class cricket - Victoria - Western Australia - Melbourne - Australia - Australia B - Zimbabwe - Australia A - West Indies - India - Sydney Cricket Ground

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He had an undistinguished debut, taking 1/150 (Ravi Shastri caught by Dean Jones for 206) off 45 overs, and recording figures of 1/228 in his first Test series. His poor return continued in the first innings against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the next year, in which he recorded 0/107. However, a spell of 3 for 11 in the second innings contributed to a remarkable Australian win and arguably saved his Test career.

Related Topics:
Ravi Shastri - Dean Jones - Overs - Innings - Sri Lanka - Colombo

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Despite the inauspicious start to his Test career, he has since revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which many cricket fans had regarded as a dying art. He has combined the ability to turn the ball prodigiously, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a wide variation of deliveries (notably including the flipper).

Related Topics:
Turn - Pitches - Flipper

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Many of his most spectacular performances have occurred in Ashes series against England, whose players' inexperience against leg spin bowling made them particularly vulnerable. However, with feats like the famous "Gatting Ball" or "Ball of the Century" which spun sharply and bowled a bemused Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series, most of the credit is Warne's. Warne has also been highly effective bowling in one-day cricket, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. He is also noted for his exuberant (and sometimes effective) lower-order batting, once famously being dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot when a Test century beckoned, on what was later shown to be a no ball. He has captained Australia on several occasions in one-day cricket matches.

Related Topics:
Ashes series - England - Ball of the Century - Mike Gatting - One-day cricket - Batting - No ball

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In March 2004, he became the second cricketer, after Courtney Walsh of the West Indies, to take 500 Test wickets. He became cricket's greatest-ever wicket taker on October 15 2004 during the Second Test against India at Chennai, overtaking his great spin bowling rival, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. (As both Warne and Muralitharan are still playing, the record may change hands again). On 11 August 2005 at Old Trafford, in the Third Ashes Test, he became the first bowler in history to take 600 Test wickets with a bowling average slightly over 25. Despite renown principally as a bowler, Warne is also a useful slip fielder and is the highest-scoring Test batsman never to have scored a Test century, with several scores in the 90s.

Related Topics:
March - 2004 - Courtney Walsh - West Indies - Greatest-ever wicket taker - October 15 - Chennai - Spin bowling - Muttiah Muralitharan - Sri Lanka - 11 August - 2005 - Old Trafford - Ashes - Bowling average - Slip fielder

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