Albie Morkel

Personal information
Full name	Johannes Albertus Morkel
Born	(1981-06-10) 10 June 1981 (age 31) Vereeniging, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium-fast
Role	All-rounder
Relations	M Morkel (brother)
International information
National side	South Africa
Only Test (cap 304)	27 September 2006 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 76)	20 February 2004 v New Zealand
Last ODI	3 March 2012 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2012–	Somerset
2008–2010	Durham
2008–	Chennai Super Kings
2004–	Titans (squad no. 81)
1999–2006	Easterns
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	1	58	75	177
Runs scored	58	782	4,046	2,728
Batting average	58	23.69	44.95	27.00
100s/50s	0/1	0/2	8/23	0/11
Top score	58	97	204*	97
Balls bowled	192	2,073	11,493	6,719
Wickets	1	50	203	184
Bowling average	132.00	37.98	29.44	30.75
5 wickets in innings	0	0	5	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	1/44	4/29	6/36	4/23
Catches/stumpings	0/–	15/–	32/–	40/–
Source: Cricinfo, 19 March 2012

Johannes Albertus Morkel (born 10 June 1981), better known as Albie Morkel, is a South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium fast and bats left-handed. He is famous for his six hitting abilities in Twenty20 cricket. Albie has a brother, Morné Morkel, who also plays international cricket for South Africa while his father Albert played provincial cricket in South Africa.

Career[link]

Morkel at fielding practice, Adelaide Oval, January 2009

First Class[link]

His bowling was quite impressive in his first seasons in first class cricket, as he burst onto the scene with six for 36 for Easterns against Griqualand West, but in the 2004/05 season he was expected to take more of the bowling effort for the Titans, but only took 20 wickets at a bowling average of 40.65. However, that coincided with an improvement in his batting, as he made his first double century of his career, with 204 not out against Western Province Boland.

During the 2008 Summer season Albie played for Durham County Cricket Club in the North East of England along with fellow South African Shaun Pollock mainly in the Twenty20 Cup competition. He was dropped from the National team to the tour of Windies to open door for Dave Miller and others .

In 2012, Morkel was confirmed as Somerset Cricket Club's second overseas player alongside Chris Gayle. Roelof Van der Merwe was expected to be retained by Somerset but it was expected that a work permit wouldn't be obtainable.

International[link]

His statistics on his international debut tour to New Zealand were not very impressive, as he got two wickets at the cost of 48 runs apiece, but he did get five wickets quite cheaply on Zimbabwe's tour of South Africa. Nevertheless, Morkel was picked for the Africa squad to play Asia in the 2005 Afro-Asia Cup, but withdrew due to injury. He appeared however for Africa the following series, in 2007, and made history in the second game when he opened the bowling with his brother Morné, the first time two brothers have done so in ODI cricket.

His recently secured two man-of-the-match accolades against Australia in the current Commonwealth Series 2009 down under, as well as the Man of the Series accolade for the One Day Internationals.

He was promoted to the Test side for the third Test of the home series against Australia in 2008/09, ironically replacing his brother Morné in the side.

Indian Premier League[link]

Albie played for the Chennai Super Kings since the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League where he had a very successful tournament as an all-rounder.

He is one of the regular names in the overseas four of the playing XI. Morkel's big-hitting abilities and consistent bowling performances has been one of the key reasons of the Super Kings' successful run in the Indian Premier League. In the 2010 IPL, he struck a record third-wicket partnership in the tournament along with Murali Vijay against the Rajasthan Royals. At the 2012 Indian Premier League, he was the winner of the Super Sixes tournament, with a distance of 105m.

Morkel was retained by Chennai for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.

On 12 April 2012, he hit 28 runs in one over of Virat Kohli's bowling which ultimately brought victory to Chennai Super Kings from a no win position after chasing a massive total of 206 in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Personal life[link]

Albie hails from an Afrikaner family, who are big cricket fans. Albie is born to Albert and Mariana Morkel as the second of three children making Morné the youngest. His older brother, Malan also played cricket. Albie is married to his childhood crush, Marthmari (née Groenewald). Their son, Albertus Johannes "AJ" Morkel was born on 1 December 2009 and their daughter Cara Morkel was born on 4 June 2011. [1] The family lives in Pretoria. Prior to marriage, he used to live with his brother Morné and team mate AB de Villiers in Pretoria.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Albie Morkel

• Cricinfo page
• Cricketarchive page
• Cricinfo StatsGuru output
• Afro-Asia Cup hit by more injuries
• Albie Morkel to play for Chennai Super Kings instead of Nashua Titans

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

Dwayne Bravo

Personal information
Full name	Dwayne James John Bravo
Born	(1983-10-07) 7 October 1983 (age 28) Santa Cruz, Trinidad
Nickname	Donnie Darko
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm medium fast
Role	all rounder
International information
National side	West Indies
Test debut	22 July 2004 v England
Last Test	5 December 2010 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut	18 April 2004 v England
Last ODI	25 March 2012 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002–present	Trinidad and Tobago (squad no. 47)
2006	Kent (squad no. 47)
2008–2010	Mumbai Indians (squad no. 47)
2009–2011	Victoria
2010	Essex (squad no. 47)
2011–present	Chennai Super Kings
2011/12–present	Sydney Sixers
2012-	Chittagong Kings
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs	FC	LA
Matches	40	122	98	167
Runs scored	2,200	2,004	5,242	2,759
Batting average	31.42	23.85	30.65	22.61
100s/50s	3/13	1/5	8/29	1/8
Top score	113	112*	197	112*
Balls bowled	6,466	4,846	10,865	6,253
Wickets	86	142	173	186
Bowling average	39.83	30.00	33.71	28.86
5 wickets in innings	2	0	7	1
10 wickets in match	0	0	0	0
Best bowling	6/55	4/19	6/11	6/46
Catches/stumpings	41/–	48/–	84/–	67/–
Source: Cricinfo, 25 May 2012

Dwayne James John Bravo (born 7 October 1983) is a West Indian cricketer. He is a genuine all-rounder, Bravo is an aggressive right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler.

Bravo played for the Mumbai Indians, and was later signed by the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. Bravo also plays for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, and the Chittagong Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Debuts[link]

Bravo made his first-class debut for Trinidad and Tobago against Barbados in 2002, opening the innings and scoring 15 and 16 but not bowling. He scored his maiden first-class century a month later and was included in the West Indies A squad for their tour of England in 2002. In early 2003 he scored another century but it was a spell of bowling in which he took 6-11 against the Windward Islands that brought him to prominence as an all-rounder.

Bravo made his One Day International debut against England in their 2003/04 tour of the Caribbean, in a match in which he failed to bat but took 2-31 with the ball. In the West Indies tour of England in 2004 Bravo made his Test debut when he was selected for the First Test at Lord's in which he scored 44 and 10 and took three wickets. He finished the Test series with 16 wickets and a total of 220 runs with his most impressive performance at Old Trafford in a match in which he was the top scorer in the first innings with 77 followed by a 6 for 55 performance with the ball. The latter remains his best bowling figures in Test cricket.

Controversy[link]

In his next Test series against South Africa in 2005 he scored his maiden century - 107 before getting out to Mark Boucher - in the fourth Test in Antigua, but that was overshadowed when he accused opposition captain Graeme Smith of directing a racist comment at him. At the subsequent hearing no evidence could be found and charges were dropped against Smith, who immediately demanded an apology from the young all-rounder.^[1] Bravo, backed by the West Indies Cricket Board, refused to do so and received a hail of criticism from an angry South African press while finding support at home as a human rights campaigner.

2005–06[link]

On the West Indies tour of Australia in 2005, Bravo was controversially not picked for the first Test at Brisbane in which the West Indies were beaten convincingly. He was recalled for the second Test in Hobart and made a superb 113, after coming in at a very difficult stage for the West Indies. His innings lifted the West Indies and helped them regain some pride, forcing the Australians to bat for a second time in the match. In the third and final match of the series at Adelaide, he bowled a superb spell in the Australians first innings taking 6 for 84 including the wickets of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist.

In West Indies tour of New Zealand in early 2006 Bravo strained his left side in the Twenty20 game at the start of the tour and was unable to bowl but still played in all three tests as a specialist batsman. His selection showed how far he had come in the previous two years and how crucial he had become to the West Indies team.^[2]

2006–07[link]

After a disappointing series in India Bravo returned to top form in the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 when he took 7 wickets at an average of 27.57 and scored 164 runs at an average of 41 although most of the runs were scored in a dead rubber with England in which he made his first ever ODI century scoring a majestic 112 not out as part of a second wicket stand of 174 with Chris Gayle. His bowling contained some lethal slower-paced yorkers with which he dismissed Michael Clarke and Chris Read.

Bravo had a disappointing 2007 World Cup scoring 129 runs at an average of 21.50 and although he took 13 wickets at 27.76 his economy rate was 5.56. Against South Africa he conceded 69 runs off 7 overs including 18 off his first over.

During the Third Test against England at Old Trafford on 9 June 2007, Bravo acted as an emergency wicket-keeper in place of Denesh Ramdin who had gone off for treatment after being hit on the head with the ball. In the same Test he took the wicket of England batsman Kevin Pietersen with a bouncer which struck the batsman's helmet knocking the helmet off of his head onto the stumps and dislodging the bails causing Pietersen to be given out hit wicket.

Test centuries[link]

The following table gives a summary of the Test centuries scored by Dwayne Bravo.

• The column title Match refers to the Match number of the player's career

Indian Premier League[link]

Dwayne Bravo played for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League for the first three seasons. He was picked up by the Chennai Super Kings during 2011 IPL Auctions.

ICC World Cup 2011[link]

Dwayne Bravo was ruled out from the World Cup 2011 outfit due to the knee injury when he slipped at the wicket while bowling to South African batsman on 24 February at Delhi. He was rested for four weeks and could not participate further in the tournament.^[3]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Dwayne Bravo from ESPNcricinfo

v t e Trinidad and Tobago squad – Current Squad 1 D Ganga 3 J Mohammed 5 S Ganga 7 Badree 14 Rampaul 15 Barath 20 Cooper 24 Narine 31 D Mohammed 46 DM Bravo 47 DJ Bravo 51 Emrit 54 Simmons 55 Pollard 80 Ramdin (c)  Kelly  Jaggernauth  Perkins  Guillen  Gabriel  Kanhai  Khan Coach: Williams

v t e Victoria squad – current squad 2 Harwood 3 Wright 4 McDonald 5 Finch 7 Hodge 8 D Hussey 9 White (c) 10 Keath 11 Hastings 12 Quiney 13 Wade (†) 14 Rogers 15 McKay 16 Carters (†) 17 Cleary 18 McGain 19 J Pattinson 20 Siddle 21 D Pattinson 25 Holland 26 Nannes 31 Sheridan 32 Maxwell 33 Hill 47 Bravo  Forsyth  Coleman Coach: Shipperd

Laxmi Ratan Shukla  pronunciation (help·info) (Bengali  : লক্ষ্মী রতন শুক্লা ; born May 6, 1981) is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He represents Bengal cricket team .He is also a player in the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders

Shukla was born in Howrah, West Bengal, India and did his schooling at Shree Hanumaan Jute Mill Hindi High School and the Don Bosco High & Technical School, Liluah. He caught attention in the Ranji Trophy in the 1997-98 season, and rose to prominence for performing well for the Indian under-19s team in the MTN Youth World Cup in South Africa. He was a part of the Bengal team in the Wills Trophy, in which they got to the semi-final. In 2000 he was picked for the National Cricket Academy.

International career[link]

Because of impressive performances in domestic level Shukla got a national call in 1999. He was controversially dropped in favour of Ashish Nehra in the first Test he was selected to play, against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the Asian Test Championship, even after his name appeared in the 11-member squad flashed on the electronic scoreborad at the ground. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on March 22, 1999 in Nagpur. His international career ended without any major impact. He played his last ODI against West Indies in 1999.

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.