Shane Warne

Shane Keith Warne (born 13 September 1969) is an Australian former international cricketer widely regarded as one of the best bowlers in the history of the game.

He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 1994 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. He was the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World 1997 (Notional Winner).

He was named Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2004 in 2005 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

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.

Shane Warne was born to Keith and Bridgette Warne on 13 September 1969 in Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria, a suburb of outer Melbourne.

He attended Hampton High School from Grades 7–9, after which he was offered a sports scholarship to attend Mentone Grammar.

Warne spent his final three years of school at Mentone.

His 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 competitions.

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 suburb of Black Rock.

He started in the lower elevens and over a number of seasons progressed to the first eleven.

During the cricket offseason in 1987 Warne played five games of Australian Rules football for the St Kilda Football Club’s under 19 team.

In 1988 Warne once again played for the St Kilda Football Club’s under 19 team before being upgraded to the reserves team, one step below professional level.

Following the 1988 Victorian Football League season Warne was delisted by St Kilda and began to focus solely on cricket.

He was later chosen to train at the AIS Australian Cricket Academy in 1990 in Adelaide.

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.

Warne’s dismissal of Rahul Dravid in the first inning of the final test at Bangalore took him past Lance Gibbs’ tally of 309 wickets making him the most successful spinner in Test Cricket.

Australia lost the series, breaking a run of nine Test series victories. As one of the most marketable players in cricket, Warne earned extra money with endorsement deals.

During the 2000 season, he wrote an exclusive cricket column for the Times of London.

In 2001 Warne signed a promotional contract with British Channel 5 to paint his face with that network’s logo to promote the soap opera series Home and Away.