Born in Victoria in September 1969, Shane Warne played a majority of his first class cricket for Hampshire.Warne is an ebullient leg-spinner who has rewritten the record books time & again with his amazing performance on the field.According to some cricket pandits, Warne has single handedly renewed the art of leg spin.
Warne made his debut in 1992 against India at Sydney, with a dreadful performance with the ball.He was clobbered all over the ground by the Indian batsmen(especially by Ravi Shastri) who made 200 something in that match.Warne’s balling figure in that Sydney match was 1/150, something which no bowler ever likes to see against his name.But after that he never looked back.He has occupied a central place in Australian teams for the majority of the last decade.Nicknamed “Hollywood” by his team mates, Warne has a love-hate relationship with his fans that ensures that he draws spectators through the turnstiles almost wherever he plays.
Warne has been no stranger to controversy over his career & his actions off the field have consistently made headlines.In 1998, Warne revealed that he & his team mate Mark Waugh had accepted money from an Indian bookmaker while on tour in Sri Lanka in 1994.Even though he was cleared by the ICC some said he should have been banned for life.Recently Warne was back in news for snatching a camera from a young boy who took his picture while he was smoking cigarettes.
Warne has continued to maintain a status as one of the world’s most fearsome bowlers with some breathtaking performance.In the closing stages of the 1999 World Cup he earned dual Man of the Match awards & underpinned Australia’s memorable performances in both the Semi-Final against South Africa & the Final against Pakistan. More recently, he has become Australia’s highest ever wicket taker in Tests eclipsing Dennis Lillee’s milestone of 355 while on tour in New Zealand in 2000.
Warne’s career high:
Australian Cricket Academy award 1990.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year awar 1994.
Hampshire Cricketer of the Year 2000.
Selected as one of five Wisden cricketers of the century in 2000.
He is one of the best leg spinner of our time & probably the best among the current bread of spinners.