Alec James Stewart OBE (born 8 April 1963) is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team. He is the most capped English cricketer of all time in Test matches^[1] and 2nd most capped in One Day Internationals, having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs.

Career[link]

The younger son of former English Test cricketer Micky Stewart, Stewart was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames.^[2] He made his début for Surrey in 1981, earning a reputation as an aggressive opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He made his England début in the first Test of the 1989/90 tour of the West Indies, along with Nasser Hussain, who would eventually replace him as England captain.

At the start of his career, Stewart was a specialist opening batsman for England, with wicketkeeping duties being retained by Jack Russell, who was generally recognised as the superior gloveman and who batted down the order. However, Russell, the inferior batsman, would often be dropped to improve the balance of the side (i.e. to accommodate an extra bowler or batsman), in which case Stewart would don the gloves. After enduring years of selection and deselection, Russell retired from international cricket in 1998, leaving Stewart unrivalled as England's keeper-batsman until his own retirement in 2003.

His highest Test score, 190, was against Pakistan in the drawn first Edgbaston Test on 4 June 1992; it was his fourth century in five Tests. In 1994 at the Kensington Oval he became only the seventh Englishman to score centuries in both innings of a Test match, scoring 118 and 143 as the West Indies were beaten at their Bridgetown "fortress" for the first time since 1935.^[3]

Stewart was groomed for the England captaincy under Graham Gooch, deputising for him in four tests in India and Sri Lanka in 1993, but when Gooch retired from the captaincy later that year Michael Atherton was chosen to succeed him.

Always more of an establishment figure than any sort of rebel, it was no surprise when Stewart was asked to captain England in 1998 when Mike Atherton resigned. By this time, however, Stewart was 35 and even though his fitness record was impeccable - most players do not continue beyond 37. As it was Stewart went on to play for England beyond his 40th birthday - but as events were to transpire - his captaincy of England barely lasted 12 months.

In his first series as captain, against South Africa, Stewart scored an outstanding 164 in the third Test at Old Trafford to salvage a draw, a result which eventually enabled England to overturn a 1–0 deficit to win the series 2–1. Nonetheless, failures against Australia and in the 1999 cricket World Cup saw him sacked from the captaincy to be replaced by Hussain. During his captaincy, he had the unusual distinction of simultaneously captaining the side, opening the batting and keeping wicket. He continued to deputise occasionally as captain of England's one-day side, and became the second international captain to concede a match in 2001, after a pitch invasion during a One Day International against Pakistan rendered the continuation of play impossible.^[4] He continued as an England player for five more seasons, and became only the fourth player to score a century in his 100th Test, scoring 105 against the West Indies at Old Trafford in 2000.

Stewart's batting average (39.54) is the lowest of any player to have scored 8000 or more runs in Test cricket: he is the only player to have scored over 8000 runs despite an average of under 40.^[5] However, this still represents a fine return given he had the burden of keeping wicket in 82 of his 133 Test matches. As a specialist batsman in Test cricket, Stewart averaged an impressive 46.90 in 51 games with 9 centuries. Since World War II, only Len Hutton, Geoff Boycott and Dennis Amiss have bettered Stewart's average of 46 as a specialist opening batsman.^[6] As wicketkeeper-batsman he averaged 34.92 from 82 tests, higher than many of his contemporaries and many of the current batch of international wicketkeepers. He was unlucky enough to be on the losing side in a record 54 Test Matches.

Alec Stewart was probably the best example of England's "unique" selectorial policies throughout his international career. He was a superb player of fast bowling - probably the best in the country - but was nowhere near as fluent against spin - particularly early on in an innings. As a keeper, he was very good but there were better glovemen around during his time - notably Jack Russell, Steve Rhodes and Chris Read. Therefore it was no surprise that in the early 1990s England used him correctly as an opening batsman who did not keep wicket. When England were short of runs from their wicket keeper, the selectors gave the gloves to Stewart and shoved him down the order to number 6 - a policy that often backfired as Stewart was forced to start an innings against spin. Against top class spinners like Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill he struggled - not scoring a century against Australia until his 5th Ashes campaign. Had England left Stewart opening the batting (a position Stewart himself expressed a preference for - though at the same time said he would bat anywhere for England) and played a specialist wicket keeper who could bat at 7 - England may have fared better. The continual movement of Stewart up and down the order keeping and not keeping arguably did not allow England to reap full reward from Stewart's proven ability against fast bowling. Garry Sobers once said that "Alec Stewart is your best player against real quicks because he is the only one who gets back and across" ("Captain Calypso", BBC TV, May 1994)

Stewart is a well-known supporter of Surrey County Cricket Club and Chelsea F.C. When shirt numbers were introduced for One Day International cricket, Stewart chose the number 4 shirt in honour of his favourite Chelsea player when growing up, John Hollins, and kept that shirt number throughout his career.^[7]

Post-playing career[link]

In 2004, Stewart became a founding director of Arundel Promotions with specific responsibility for player management and representation. Cricket playing clients include Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Ashley Giles and Matt Prior.^[8]

In 2009, Stewart rejoined Surrey as a part time consultant to the coaching staff specialising in batting, wicket keeping and mentoring.^[9]

Since retiring from playing Stewart has taken on the role as the Club Ambassador for Surrey CCC

Honours[link]

• Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1993
• Awarded the MBE on 13 June 1998
• Awarded the OBE on 14 June 2003

Alec Stewart's career performance graph.

• Highest Test run scorer in the world during the 1990s

• As a mark of his achievements Surrey CCC have named the gates at the Vauxhall End after him: the Alec Stewart Gates

References[link]

1. ^ Alec Stewart: most Test matches playing for England, stats.espncricinfo.com, http://stats.espncricinfo.com/england/engine/records/individual/most_matches_career.html?class=1;id=1;type=team  Retrieved on 3 September, 2011
2. ^ "Alec was aggressive - He'd even sledge the teachers Says the England captain's Games Master!", Sunday Mirror, Steve Whiting, 24 May 1998
3. ^ Wisden: West Indies v England, 1993-94
4. ^ Stewart concedes defeat after another pitch invasion
5. ^ Cricinfo statsguru: batsmen who scored 8000 Test runs or more
6. ^ Cricinfo statsguru: openers by batting average since 1945
7. ^ Profile at Arundel Promotions
8. ^ http://www.athletes1.co.uk/content/169/index.html
9. ^ [1]

External links[link]

• Alec Stewart's Greatest One-Day XI
• Player profile: Alec Stewart from ESPNcricinfo
• Alec Stewart at Cricket Archive

Alec Stewart at the Cricket World Cup
v t e England squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup (runners-up) 1 Gooch (c) 2 Botham 3 DeFreitas 4 Fairbrother 5 Hick 6 Illingworth 7 Lamb 8 Lewis 9 Pringle 10 Reeve 11 Small 12 Smith 13 Stewart (wk) 14 Tufnell
v t e England squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup 1 Atherton (c) 2 Cork 3 DeFreitas 4 Fairbrother 5 Gough 6 Hick 7 Martin 8 Illingworth 9 Russell (wk) 10 NMK Smith 11 RA Smith 12 Stewart (wk) 13 Thorpe 14 White Dermot Reeve was called up as an injury replacement.
v t e England squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup 1 Stewart (c/wk) 2 Austin 3 Croft 4 Ealham 5 Fairbrother 6 Flintoff 7 Fraser 8 Gough 9 Hick 10 Hollioake 11 Hussain 12 Knight 13 Mullally 14 Thorpe 15 Wells Coach: Lloyd
v t e England squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup 1 Knight 2 Caddick 3 Hussain 4 Stewart 6 White 11 Flintoff 15 Irani 22 Hoggard 23 Trescothick 28 Harmison 29 Giles 37 Blackwell 40 Anderson 50 Collingwood 99 Vaughan Coach: Fletcher

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.

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. Of players who have batted in more than 175 Test innings, his proportion of dismissals by being out bowled is the lowest, at under seven percent.^[94] 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.

Outside cricket[link]

Warne at a media engagement in 2011

Media[link]

On 13 July 2005, Australia's Nine Network announced it would not renew Warne's commentating contract, worth around A$300,000 annually.^[95] 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.^[96]

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.^[97] Celebrities interviewed on the programme included then captain of the Australian cricket team Ricky Ponting, and the singers Chris Martin and Susan Boyle.^[98][99] 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.^[100]

Endorsements[link]

In 2005, Shane Warne signed a lucrative multi-year sponsorship deal^[101][102] with Messages On Hold. The irony of Warne promoting On Hold phone messages after weathering the ignominy of several SMS/text messaging scandals was not lost on the spin bowler.^[103] 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."^[104]

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.^[105] In response to the investigation Warne stated "There's only one thing that worries me, and that's hair loss."^{[citation needed]} 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.^[106] Warne had a talking figurine as part of the promotion, which continued from the "Talking Boony" doll.^[107]

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.

Personal life[link]

Warne was born in Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria to parents Keith and Bridgette, and grew up in Black Rock, Victoria. He went to Oakleigh South Primary School for one year. He attended Mentone Grammar School on a sporting scholarship and was the school's captain of cricket. 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."^[108] 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."^[108]

Marital infidelities[link]

Warne's private life has been beset by scandals and subjected to scrutiny by British tabloid newspapers. He came under criticism for text messaging a woman while 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.^[109]

In 2000, he was 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.^[110]

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.