Shane Warne

Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australia. Considered to be one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the sport, he made 145 Test appearances, taking 708 wickets, and set the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, a record he held until 2007. Warne was a member of the Australian team that won the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Warne was a useful lower-order batsman who scored more than 3,000 Test runs, with a highest score of 99. He retired from international cricket at the end of Australia's 2006–07 Ashes series victory over England. In the first four seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Warne was a player-coach for Rajasthan Royals and also captained the team to victory in the inaugural season. During his career, Warne was involved in off-field scandals; his censures included a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance and charges of sexual indiscretions and bringing the game into disrepute.

Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, then regarded as a dying art. After retirement, he regularly worked as a cricket commentator and for charities and endorsed commercial products. In recognition of his skill, a statue of Warne bowling was placed outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where he was also honoured with a state memorial service, as well as having a grandstand named in his honour. Warne was posthumously appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his service to cricket.