Herschelle Gibbs

Personal information
Full name	Herschelle Herman Gibbs
Born	(1974-02-23) 23 February 1974 (age 38) Green Point, Cape Town, South Africa
Nickname	Scooter
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm slow
Role	Opening batsman
International information
National side	South Africa
Test debut (cap 264)	27 November 1996 v India
Last Test	10 January 2008 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 42)	3 October 1996 v Kenya
Last ODI	27 February 2010 v India
ODI shirt no.	09
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1990/91–2003/04	Western Province
2004/05–2005/06	Cape Cobras
2008–2010	Deccan Chargers
2012-	Mumbai Indians
2008	Glamorgan
2010–present	Yorkshire
2010–present	Northern Districts
2011–present	Perth Scorchers
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODIs	FC	LA
Matches	90	248	193	387
Runs scored	6,167	8,094	13,425	11,937
Batting average	41.95	36.13	42.21	35.42
100s/50s	14/26	21/37	31/60	27/62
Top score	228	175	228	175
Balls bowled	6	–	138	66
Wickets	0	–	3	2
Bowling average	–	–	26.00	28.50
5 wickets in innings	0	–	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	–	0	n/a
Best bowling	0/4	–	2/1473	1/16
Catches/stumpings	94/–	108/–	176/–	171/–
Source: CricketArchive, 6 February 2011

Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974) is a South African cricketer, more specifically known as a batsman.

Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch. Gibbs was a gifted sportsman at school playing provincial rugby, cricket and soccer and featuring in SA Schools teams for all three sports.

At backward point, he is considered by some to be the next Jonty Rhodes in his ability to hit the stumps, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the eighth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the tenth highest success rate.^[1] Gibbs is said to rarely practice in the nets before a match. It is said he prefers to play on instinct in this case.

He became the first player to hit six sixes in one over in One Day International cricket, doing so against the Netherlands in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. On 8 June 2007 he got married in St Kitts to Tenielle Povey,^[2] but divorced soon afterwards.

Career[link]

Gibbs has scored two double centuries in his Test career, both contrasting innings. His first was an innings of 211 not out against New Zealand at Jade Stadium in 1999. His innings took 468 balls while his second double century, 228 against Pakistan came off just 240 balls. In that innings in Newlands, he reached a national record partnership of 368 with Graeme Smith. He has put on a further two 300-run opening stands with his captain, making them the only pair in Test history to break 300 on three occasions. He also holds the South African second wicket record, a partnership of 315* with Jacques Kallis.

Gibbs famously dropped a catch in a World Cup game against Australia in 1999, when he attempted to throw the ball up into the air in celebration before he had full control of it. The player that he dropped, Steve Waugh, went on to make a century and win the game for Australia, a victory which also gave the Australian side the momentum they required to go on and win the tournament. It was claimed at the time that, immediately after the dropped catch, Waugh had "sledged" Gibbs with the statement, "You've just dropped the World Cup", but, in his autobiography Out of My Comfort Zone, Waugh denies this. Waugh did state, however, that teammate Shane Warne had noticed that Gibbs had developed a habit of throwing the ball in the air prematurely after taking catches and instructed his colleagues not to leave the crease too quickly if they happened to be caught by Gibbs, just in case the situation that happened to Waugh should actually occur.

Gibbs is one of the only three batsmen in ODI history to score hundreds in three consecutive innings, the others being Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar both from Pakistan.^[3] On 3 October 2002, in Potchefstroom, his 153 was more than the rest of his team made altogether in a total of 301 for eight against the Bangladeshis, who were beaten decisively. On 6 October, in the 2nd ODI of that series, Gibbs had a chance to become the only batsman to score four hundreds in a row. South Africa was set the target of 155 for victory, and Gibbs fell just three runs short, finishing unbeaten on 97. With just six runs needed for victory, he had the strike on 96, but Alok Kapali bowled a legside wide that went for four and made his task almost impossible.^[4]

On 12 March 2006, Gibbs played a monumental innings in the 5th ODI against Australia, scoring 175 off just 111 balls leading South Africa to victory.he was batting with Graeme Smith after Boeta Dippenaar got out on 1(3)bowled by Nathan Bracken. This was the highest scoring One Day International match in history and his innings broke several batting records. It was the highest ever score made in an ODI against Australia, beating Robin Smith's effort in 1993. By bringing up his hundred off just 79 balls, he also brought up what was at the time the fastest ever ODI century against Australia. More importantly however, it was the fastest ever hundred by a South African batsman against any opposition, although the record would be broken later in the year by Mark Boucher.^[5] It was also the highest ever score by a batsman in South Africa. He scored 126 runs in boundaries, the most ever by a batsman.^[6] This record stood until 11 April 2011, when Shane Watson hit 150 runs in boundaries against Bangladesh.

In the match against the Netherlands in the group stage of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Gibbs hit six sixes in an over off the bowling of Daan van Bunge becoming the first player in One Day International history to do so.^[7] Ravi Shastri and Sir Garfield Sobers had previously achieved this feat in first-class cricket but to date no player has achieved this in Test Cricket. In doing so, he raised US$1 million for the Habitat for Humanity housing projects as part of a contest run by tournament sponsor Johnnie Walker.^[8] It is likely that his being awarded citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis was due to this feat.^[9] His six hitting form continued throughout the tournament and when he hit Jacob Oram into the stands during a Super Eight match he drew level with Australian batsman Ricky Ponting on 28 for most sixes in World Cup history.^[10]

Gibbs played for Glamorgan in the 2008 County Twenty20 tournament where he had a successful time; his highest score being 98 off just 52 balls in a losing game against Northants.^[11] He then signed up to play for Glamorgan for the 2009 County season, replacing Mark Cosgrove as the overseas player at the end of June.^[12] He also represented Glamorgan in two NatWest Pro40 League matches in that same season.^[13]

Gibbs then signed for Yorkshire Carnegie for the 2010 Friends Provident t20 tournament, where he was their overseas player, scoring 101 from 53 balls against Northamptonshire to achieve his first century in English T20 cricket.^[14]

His test career came to an end following the 2007/08 West Indies tour of South Africa.

Struggle with form[link]

Gibbs at fielding practice, Adelaide Oval, January 2009.

In the past two series against England and the West Indies he was brought down the order from the opening batsman to the middle order due to lack of form. After the move he regained form and looked more comfortable batting against the older ball. On 22 April 2006, Gibbs paid the price for his recent run-drought, and was dropped for the second and third Tests against the New Zealand cricket team. He has been short of confidence in Test cricket of late, and scored only 6 and 2 in the First Test at Centurion Park. South Africa's chief selector, Haroon Lorgat said, "We had a meeting and agreed that a break and a fresh start next season will do him a world of good." This decision was widely viewed as a harsh one.

He came back into the side in the middle order but continued to struggle for runs. On the conclusion of the 1st Test against Pakistan in January 2007 he had gone over 2 years without scoring a century. He had come close on many occasions to ending the drought, getting out in the nineties four times.

In April 2009, his sixteen One Day International innings since the March 2008 one-day series in Bangladesh having yielded just three fifties, even Stuart Hess, his most ardent media supporter, was moved to cast doubt over his future. Hess had famously recommended Gibbs as captaincy successor to Shaun Pollock in 2003, but now, noting that his "average, as an opener, in that same period is 25.25, more than 10 runs below his overall average of 35.87", Hess felt "a sense that Gibbs is living off past deeds and not playing with the requisite form needed to hold on to a national spot."^[15] He noted, however, that Gibbs was the only South African with more than 1,000 World Cup runs and that, of the twelve others, only Sachin Tendulkar with 57.93 and Sir Viv Richards with 63.31 had better averages:

Perhaps putting up with Gibbs's current inconsistent streak may just have to be the pay-off South Africa have to make if it means he can help guide the national side to greater glory in two years time.^[15]

After being dropped from the side Gibbs stated that he wanted to perform well in the domestic cup and that he was feeling well about it. He stated that his aim was to play in the 2011 Cricket World Cup^[16]

Indian Premier League[link]

In April 2008, Herschelle Gibbs was picked up by and joined the Deccan Chargers of the Indian Premier League. His mediocre performance in 2008 season made the Chargers' management put him on sale. However, he came up with splendid knocks in the second season helping the Deccans Charger ahead with four continuous wins in their first four matches. Of all the openers, Adam Gilchrist and Gibbs have been the most explosive pair. He also played a crucial role in the finals by scoring unbeaten 53 (48 balls) in the final when Adam Gilchrist was out for a duck by having no runs on the board. He also took a crucial catch of Mark Boucher at point when the Royal Challengers were cruising to the victory. In the 2012 version of the IPL, he was signed by the Mumbai Indians with a reported fee of US$ 50,000.

Bangladesh Premier League[link]

On 19 January 2012 the new team of Bangladesh Premier League of Khulna Royal Bengals have brought him $ 50000 foe their member as a new form t20 championship in Bangladesh.

Controversies[link]

In 2001 Gibbs was fined along with several teammates for smoking marijuana during that year's tour of the West Indies.^[17]

Most notoriously, Gibbs was involved in the match fixing affair with former captain Hansie Cronje, who offered him $15,000 to score "less than 20" in the 3rd One-day International of a series. He tearfully claimed to the King Commission of inquiry into corruption in South African cricket that he did not follow through on his side of the bargain, in fact scoring a fine 74. As a result he was banned for only six months. He repeatedly refused to tour India fearing arrest and refused to even speak to Indian Police over the matter. However, Gibbs was named in the South African squad to tour India in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and as a result, he had to meet with Indian Police over his involvement in the match-fixing scandal.^[18]

On 15 January 2007, it was announced that Gibbs would face a disciplinary panel after making racist comments during the 1st Test against Pakistan. His words had been picked up on the stump microphone saying remarks such as "go back to the zoo" and swearing to the Pakistani players and as a result heard across the world. The comments were said to have been directed at the members of the crowd after teammate Paul Harris had been abused by them whilst fielding. The Pakistani management made an official complaint to referee Chris Broad and Gibbs was banned for two Tests.^[19]

He appealed against the ban but this was rejected by the ICC's code of conduct commissioner, Richie Benaud. The ban was, however, changed to one Test, one Twenty20 game and one ODI match - all against Pakistan.

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Gibbs' Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).

Test Centuries[link]

One Day International Centuries[link]

Herschelle Gibbs's One Day International Centuries
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	125	20	West Indies	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Sahara Oval St George's	1999
[2]	101	35	Australia	Leeds, England	Headingley Stadium	1999
[3]	111	47	India	Kochi, India	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi	2000
[4]	104	65	West Indies	St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua Recreation Ground	2001
[5]	107	68	West Indies	Bridgetown, Barbados	Kensington Oval	2001
[6]	125	71	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo, Zimbabwe	Queens Sports Club	2001
[7]	114	97	Pakistan	Tangier, Morocco	National Cricket Stadium	2002
[8]	116	103	Kenya	Colombo, Sri Lanka	R. Premadasa Stadium	2002
[9]	116	104	India	Colombo, Sri Lanka	R. Premadasa Stadium	2002
[10]	153	105	Bangladesh	Potchefstroom, South Africa	Sedgars Park	2002
[11]	108*	111	Sri Lanka	Kimberley, South Africa	De Beers Diamond Oval	2002
[12]	143	120	New Zealand	Johannesburg, South Africa	Old Wanderers	2003
[13]	101	156	West Indies	London, England	The Oval	2004
[14]	100	160	England	Cape Town, South Africa	Sahara Park Newlands	2005
[15]	118	162	England	Durban, South Africa	Sahara Stadium Kingsmead	2005
[16]	175	185	Australia	Johannesburg, South Africa	Old Wanderers	2006
[17]	111	213	Zimbabwe	Harare, Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	2007
[18]	102	214	Pakistan	Lahore, Pakistan	Gaddafi Stadium	2007
[19]	119	220	New Zealand	Cape Town, South Africa	Sahara Park Newlands	2007
[20]	102	224	West Indies	Johannesburg, South Africa	The Wanderers Stadium	2008
[21]	110	243	Australia	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Sahara Oval St George's	2009

See also[link]

• List of cricketers banned for match fixing

References[link]

• Hess, Stuart. "Is Gibbs a risk worth taking?" IOL, 8 April 2009.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Herschelle Gibbs

• Cricinfo profile

v t e South Africa squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Kirsten 2 Gibbs 3 Kallis 4 Cullinan 5 Cronje (c) 6 Benkenstein 7 Pollock 8 Rhodes 9 Boucher (wk) 10 Donald 11 Crookes 12 Dawson 13 Klusener 14 Elworthy 15 Boje Ntini was named in the original squad, but was replaced on 23 April 1999 by Dawson

v t e South Africa squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup 1 Pollock (c) 2 Boucher 3 Boje 4 Dippenaar 5 Donald 6 Gibbs 7 Hall 8 Kallis 9 Kirsten 10 Klusener 11 Langeveldt 12 Ntini 13 Peterson 14 Rhodes 15 Zondeki 16 Smith Replacement for Rhodes

v t e South Africa squad – 2007 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Bosman 2 Boucher 3 de Villiers 4 Gibbs 5 Hall 6 Kallis 7 Kemp 8 Langeveldt 9 Nel 10 Ntini 11 Peterson 12 Pollock 13 Prince 14 Smith (c) 15 Telemachus Coach: Arthur

v t e South Africa squad – 2007 ICC World Twenty20 1 Smith (c) 2 Bodi 3 Boucher 4 de Villiers 5 Duminy 6 Gibbs 7 Kemp 8 A. Morkel 9 M. Morkel 10 Nel 11 Ntini 12 Philander 13 Pollock 14 Tshabalala 15 van der Wath Coach: Arthur Loots Bosman was ruled out of the competition with a lower back injury.

v t e South Africa squad – 2009 ICC World Twenty20 Semi-Finalists 1 Smith (c) 2 Abdulla 3 Botha 4 Boucher 5 de Villiers 6 Duminy 7 Gibbs 8 Kallis 9 A. Morkel 10 M. Morkel 11 Ontong 12 Parnell 13 Peterson 14 Steyn 15 van der Merwe Coach: Arthur

v t e South Africa squad – 2010 ICC World Twenty20 1 Smith (c) 2 Bosman 3 Botha 4 Boucher 5 de Villiers 6 Duminy 7 Gibbs 8 Kallis 9 Kleinveldt 10 Langeveldt 11 A. Morkel 12 M. Morkel 13 Steyn 14 Theron 15 van der Merwe Coach: van Zyl

Shane Warne

Personal information
Full name	Shane Keith Warne
Born	(1969-09-13) 13 September 1969 (age 42) Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia
Nickname	Warnie, King of Spin, Sheik of Tweak
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting style	Right-handed, Lower order
Bowling style	Right-arm leg break
Role	Leg spin bowler
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 350)	2 January 1992 v India
Last Test	2 January 2007 v England
ODI debut (cap 110)	24 March 1993 v New Zealand
Last ODI	10 January 2005 World XI v Asia XI
ODI shirt no.	23
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1990/91–2006/07	Victoria (squad no. 23)
2000–2007	Hampshire (squad no. 23)
2008–2011	Rajasthan Royals (squad no. 23)
2011/12–	Melbourne Stars (squad no. 23)
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs	FC	LA
Matches	145	194	301	311
Runs scored	3,154	1,018	6,919	1,879
Batting average	17.32	13.05	19.43	11.81
100s/50s	0/12	0/1	2/26	0/1
Top score	99	55	107*	55
Balls bowled	40,704	10,642	74,830	16,419
Wickets	708	293	1,319	473
Bowling average	25.41	25.73	26.11	24.61
5 wickets in innings	37	1	69	3
10 wickets in match	10	n/a	12	n/a
Best bowling	8/71	5/33	8/71	6/42
Catches/stumpings	125/–	80/–	264/–	126/–
Source: cricketarchive.com, 29 March 2008

Shane Keith Warne (born 13 September 1969) is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game.^[1] 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 wickets 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.^[2] 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 scandals off the field; these included a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, charges of bringing the game into disrepute by accepting money from bookmakers, and sexual indiscretions.

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".^[3]

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.^[4] 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.

Youth and early cricket career[link]

Warne's first representative honours came when in 1983/84 season he represented University of Melbourne Cricket Club in the then Victorian Cricket Association under 16 Dowling Shield competition. He bowled a mixture of leg-spin and off-spin and was 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 AIS Australian Cricket Academy in 1990 in Adelaide.^[5]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Warne made his first-class cricket debut on 15 February 1991, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. He was then selected for the Australia B team which toured Zimbabwe in September 1991. 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.

International career[link]

Early international career (1992–1993)[link]

Warne had an undistinguished Test debut when called into the Australian team in January 1992 for a Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He took 1/150 (Ravi Shastri caught by Dean Jones for 206) off 45 overs. He took 0/78 in the fourth Test in Adelaide, recording overall figures of 1/228 for the series, and was dropped for the fifth Test on the pace-friendly WACA Ground in Perth. His poor form continued in the first innings against Sri Lanka at Colombo, in which he recorded 0/107. However, 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.

Path to 300 Test wickets (1993–1999)[link]

In 1993, Warne was selected for Australia's Ashes tour of England. He was the leading wicket taker for the six-Test series, with 34.^[6] His first ball of the series was written into the history books as the "Ball of the Century", bowling the experienced English batsman Mike Gatting with a ball that turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail.^[7] He took 71 Test wickets in 1993, then a record for a spin bowler in a calendar year.^[8] New Zealand batsmen contributed significantly to his tally. He took 17 wickets in Australia's tour of New Zealand early in the year, tying Danny Morrison as the top wicket-taker for the series with 17. When New Zealand toured Australia for three Tests in November and December, Warne took 18 more and was named player of the series.^[9][10][11]

Warne featured in South Africa's tour of Australia in 1993–94 and Australia's return tour in March 1994. In the second Test of South Africa's tour, held at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Warne took ten wickets in a Test for the first time in his career. His 7/56 in the first innings and 5/72 in the second was not enough to secure victory for Australia; Warne was part of an Australian batting collapse on the final day of the Test that handed South Africa the win.^[12]

Australia sought to retain The Ashes when England toured for a five Test series in 1994–95. Warne took a career-best 8/71 in the second innings of the first Test at The Gabba,^[13] before going on to take 27 wickets in the five-Test series.^[14] In the Second Test at Warne's home ground, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he took his first and only Test hat-trick, dismissing tail-enders Phil DeFreitas, Darren Gough and Devon Malcolm in successive balls. It was the first hat-trick by an Australian bowler in a Test against England since Hugh Trumble's at the same ground in 1904.^[15] However it was with the bat that Warne ultimately secured The Ashes for Australia. In the Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he and fellow tail-ender Tim May survived the final 19 overs on the fifth day in fading light to secure a draw and a 2–0 series lead that meant Australia would retain The Ashes regardless of the result of the fourth and fifth Tests.^[16] Later in 1995, he toured the West Indies, taking 15 wickets over four Tests as Australia defeated the West Indies in a Test series for the first time in almost 20 years.^[17]

In the summer of 1995–96, Australia played home series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He took 11 wickets in the first Test against Pakistan but broke his toe in the second. Selectors included him in the squad for the third Test just days later to give him the chance to prove his fitness; he did so by taking four wickets in Pakistan's first innings and another four in their second to be named the player of the series.^[18][19]

Warne was to be a key member of Australia's squad for the 1996 World Cup, held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Australia qualified for the final, with Warne having taken 12 wickets, including a man-of-the-match 4/36 in the semi-final against the West Indies.^[20] Ahead of the final against Sri Lanka, Australian captain Mark Taylor publicly declared that Warne was not "vital" to his team, emphasising that Warne alone could not win the World Cup.^[21] Warne conceded 58 runs for no wickets in the final; Australia lost the match to first-time champions Sri Lanka.^[22]

The West Indies toured Australia for a five-Test series in the summer of 1996–97. Warne took 22 wickets in the series, and a further 11 in Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa early in 1997.^[23] In the northern summer, Warne returned to England with the Australian team to attempt to retain The Ashes. After struggling for form early in the tour, Warne took 24 wickets at an average of 24.04 as Australia won the six-Test series 3–2.^[24][25]

The following Australian summer (1997–98) saw a continued flow of wickets for Warne. He picked up 19 in New Zealand's three-Test series in Australia, before taking 20 wickets in three Tests against South Africa.^[23] In the second of those three, he took five wickets in the first innings and six in the second, while becoming the second Australian after Dennis Lillee to take 300 Test wickets.^[26][27] At the beginning of the summer, the Australian media had criticised Warne for his weight; now, The Australian wrote that he was one of Australia's three most "influential" cricketers (with Donald Bradman and Dennis Lillee).^[28] Journalist and former English cricketer Derek Pringle observed as Warne passed the 300 Test wicket mark at the age of 28: "we are in the presence of true greatness and not some pretender to the great figures in the game's history."^[29]

Later in 1998, Warne was a member of Australia's touring squad of India. Finding Indian food not to his liking, he had spaghetti and baked beans flown in from Australia. With Australia's two top pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie missing the tour due to injury, Warne shouldered more of the bowling burden. He took 10 wickets, but conceding 54 runs each, going for 0/147 in India's only innings of the second and series-winning Test in Calcutta. Australia lost the series, breaking a run of nine Test series victories.^[30][31]

Warne did not play international cricket again until the fifth Test of the Ashes series in Australia in January 1999, suffering a shoulder injury. He missed Australia's tour of Pakistan and the first four Ashes Tests.^[32] At the time, he was also at the centre of the John the bookmaker controversy. In early December 1998, the Australian Cricket Board revealed that three years earlier it had fined Warne and Mark Waugh for accepting money from a bookmaker for giving information about pitch and weather conditions.^[33] Warne's extended absence from the Australian team gave his understudy Stuart MacGill the opportunity to play in his place. MacGill responded by taking 15 wickets in three Tests against Pakistan—the most for any bowler in the series—and another series-high 27 wickets against England. Warne and MacGill bowled in tandem upon Warne's return to the team for the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where MacGill took 12 wickets and Warne two.^[34]

Vice-captaincy of Australia (1999–2000)[link]

The Ashes series was the last for Australian captain Mark Taylor, who retired. Steve Waugh was appointed as Taylor's replacement, while Warne was promoted to the position of vice-captain.^[35] However, he was dropped from the Test team during Australia's tour of the West Indies in early 1999. Warne took just two wickets in the first three Tests of the series, leading to calls from the Australian media for his removal from the team.^[36] He was replaced for the final Test by off-spinner Colin Miller. Miller and MacGill took eight wickets between them as Australia won the Test to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy.^[37] Warne's form recovered in the ODI series against the West Indies, and he was selected to play in the 1999 World Cup in the United Kingdom.^[38] Just before the start of the World Cup, he was given a fine and a two-match suspended ban by the International Cricket Council for telling a newspaper about Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga that: "There is plenty of animosity between Arjuna and myself. I don't like him and I'm not in a club of one".^[39]

Australia were seeking to win their first World Cup since 1987. Warne took 12 wickets in the preliminary phases of the tournament as Australia qualified for a semi-final against South Africa. While the match became notable for the dramatic fashion in which Australia won, Warne was the man of the match, dismissing four key South African batsmen: Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Hansie Cronje and Jacques Kallis.^[40] Australia faced Pakistan in the tournament's Final. Pakistan batted first, and were all out for only 132; Warne took 4/33. Australia chased down the target comfortably to win the World Cup. Warne was the tournament's joint top wicket-taker with Geoff Allott and was named the man of the match in the Final.^[41]

After his World Cup performances, Warne was retained as Australia's vice-captain for the tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe later in 1999.^[37] The following Australian summer, he played in all Tests of the series against Pakistan and India. He reached his highest score with the bat in the first Test against Pakistan in Brisbane, with 86, before matching that score in the first Test against India in Adelaide the following month.^[42] Warne's performances in the Brisbane Test were overshadowed by the Joe the Cameraman controversy, in which a jibe about the abilities of Australian bowler Scott Muller was picked up by an on-field microphone during the match. Channel Nine cameraman subsequently confessed to making the "can't bowl, can't throw" remark that many had believed was made by Warne.^[43] Warne took 18 wickets over the six summer Tests and Australia won both series 3–0.^[23] He then took another 15 wickets in Australia's 3–0 sweep of New Zealand in March 2000.^[44] In the first Test of the series at Eden Park, he surpassed Dennis Lillee (with 355 wickets) as Australia's leading ever wicket-taker.^[45]

Warne joined English county side Hampshire in 2000 and played for them during the year's English summer. Reports emerged that during the county season he had repeatedly sent lewd SMS messages to an English nurse. In August 2000, the Australian Cricket Board removed him as Australia's vice-captain, citing his history of indiscretions off the field. The Board's decision was contrary to the wishes of the team's selectors, including captain Steve Waugh. Warne was replaced as vice-captain by Adam Gilchrist.^[46]

Wickets and injuries (2001–2003)[link]

Warne missed the entire Australian summer of 2000–01 with a finger injury, and found himself battling Stuart MacGill and an in-form Colin Miller to be selected for Australia's tour of India in early 2001.^[47] MacGill was ultimately the spinner left out. Warne took 10 wickets over the three-Test series at an average of 50.50. His Indian spin counterpart Harbhajan Singh was the man of the series with 32 wickets at an average of 17.03.^[48] Australia lost the series 2–1.^[49] In the northern summer of 2001, Warne made his third Ashes tour and took 31 wickets in the five-Test series, which Australia won 4–1.^[50] He took three five-wicket hauls in the series.^[51] In the final Test at The Oval he took 11 wickets across both innings, including the 400th wicket of his Test career (Alec Stewart). He became the sixth person and the first Australian in the history of cricket to reach the milestone.^[52]

In the 2001–02 Australian summer, Australia played home series against New Zealand and against South Africa. Warne took six wickets in three Tests against New Zealand, and in the third Test in Perth made his highest career score with the bat in international cricket. He was caught at mid-wicket off the bowling of Daniel Vettori while on 99 runs, one run short of a maiden Test century.^[53] He took 17 wickets in the three Tests against South Africa—more than any other player—including a five-wicket haul (5/113) in the first innings of the first Test.^[54][55] Warne was again the leading wicket-taker when Australia played a three-Test series in South Africa in February and March 2002, with 20 dismissals.^[56] In February 2002, Ricky Ponting replaced Steve Waugh as captain of Australia's ODI squad. The elevation of Ponting—five years younger than Warne—appeared to extinguish any prospect of Warne ever being appointed to captain Australia.^[57]

Australia played a three-Test series against Pakistan in October 2002, held in neutral Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. Warne, who had lost weight over the previous months, took 27 wickets, was named the player of the series, and was man of the match in the first Test (with 11 wickets) and the third Test (with eight wickets).^{[58][59][60][61]} He returned to Australia for the Ashes series against England, starting in November 2002. He scored a half-century (57) with the bat in the first Test, before taking 11 wickets in the first three Tests of the series. However, in an ODI in December 2002, he suffered a shoulder injury.^[62] The injury not only ruled him out of the remainder of the Ashes series, but put him in doubt for the World Cup, due to commence in February 2003.^[63]

Ban from cricket (2003)[link]

In February 2003, a day befre the start of the World Cup, Warne was sent home after a drug test during a one-day series in Australia returned a positive result for a banned diuretic.^[64] Warne claimed that he took only one of what he called a "fluid tablet" – the prescription drug Moduretic – given to him by his mother to improve his appearance.^[65] A committee established by the Australian Cricket Board found Warne guilty of breaching the Board's drug code, and imposed a one-year ban from organised cricket.^[66]

At the time, Warne took the view that the ban imposed would lengthen his Test playing career.^[67] That Warne was allowed to play in charity matches while serving his one year ban was criticised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)^[68] although WADA, in turn, was criticised by Warne for interfering in the matter.^[69]

During his suspension, Warne was hired by the Nine Network, Australia's main free-to-air cricket broadcaster, as a commentator.^[70] During the winter of 2003, he worked for the St Kilda Australian rules football club in an unpaid consultancy role, after the Australian Football League disallowed him from holding an official club position because of his drugs ban.^[71] 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.^[72]

Return to cricket (2004–2006)[link]

This section requires expansion with: examples and descriptions covering the period 2005–2006.

Warne returned to competitive cricket following his ban in February 2004.^[73] In March, in the first Test of a three-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle, he became the second cricketer after Courtney Walsh to take 500 Test wickets.^[74] Warne took five wickets in each innings of the first and second Tests; a further six wickets in the third Test saw him named the player of the series.^[75] He broke the record for most career wickets in Test cricket on 15 October 2004 during the second Test of Australia's series against India at Chennai. His dismissal of Irfan Pathan, caught at slip by Matthew Hayden, saw him overtake his Sri Lankan rival, Muttiah Muralitharan, with 533 wickets. Muralitharan, who was injured at the time, had taken the record himself from Courtney Walsh five months earlier.^[76][77] Australia won the series 2–1; it was Australia's first series win in India since 1969. Warne's 14 wickets at an average of 30.07 was a marked improvement on his previous performances in India, when in six Tests he had taken 20 wickets at an average of 52 runs each.^[78][79]

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.

International retirement (2006–2007)[link]

Warne (right) bowling to Ian Bell at Brisbane Cricket Ground in 2006.

Warne began his 2006/07 Ashes campaign with an indifferent Test in Brisbane and a poor first innings showing in Adelaide. However, his second innings 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^[80] (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.^[81]

Warne's final Test was held at the same venue has his first, 15 years earlier: the Sydney Cricket Ground. Warne ended England's first innings by trapping Monty Panesar lbw for a duck and his 1000th total international wicket. His final Test wicket was the wicket of English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, stumped by Adam Gilchrist near the end of Day 3.^[82]

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^[83]

Twenty20 career (2008–present)[link]

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

After his retirement from international cricket, Warne was signed as the captain for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2008, fetching US$450,000 in the pre-season player auction.^[84] He led the Royals to victory in the first season of the competition.^[85] He continued as captain of the Royals for a further four seasons, the 2011 season being his last with the franchise.^[86][87]

Warne was signed as a player for the Melbourne Stars in Australia's inaugural Big Bash League in November 2011. The Stars qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament, and Warne took seven wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of 6.74 runs conceded per over.^[88]

Playing style and influence[link]

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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 bowling 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.^[89]

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."^[90]

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.^[92] 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.^[93]

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.