On This Day in 2006 – Shane Warne makes Test bowling history with 700th wicket

Warne reached yet another milestone in front of a Boxing Day crowd of 89,155 at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Shane Warne is carried from the field by his team-mates after victory over England at the MCG (Gareth Copley/PA) (PA Archive)

Shane Warne became the first bowler in Test history to claim 700 wickets when he dismissed England’s Andrew Strauss in Melbourne on this day in 2006.

The Australia leg-spinner went into the fourth Test of the Ashes at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground on 699 wickets, having revealed in the build-up that he would be retiring from international cricket at the end of the series.

Warne fittingly reached yet another milestone in front of a Boxing Day crowd of 89,155 with a sharply turning leg-break which spun into the stumps of England opener Strauss.

He went on to dismiss another four batters that day, claiming what would be the 37th and final five-wicket haul of his illustrious Test career, as the tourists collapsed to 159 all out.

“As it turned out, whoever writes my scripts is doing an unbelievable job,” said Warne.

“I’ve just been sitting there since we started batting just shaking my head – I can’t believe it happened to be honest. It was a pretty amazing day.”

Warne would go on to finish with 708 wickets in 145 Tests as Australia sealed a 5-0 whitewash over England.

He died aged 52 in March last year from a suspected heart attack in Thailand.