Shane Warne: The Australian cricket legend who redefined spin bowling

Warne, who has died at the age of 52, is in the record books as the second-highest Test wicket-taker ever

Australian cricket legend Shane Warne has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52.

Warne, a former captain of Australia’s One-Day International side and vice-captain of the Test team, is considered one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He is the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket.

Born to an Australian father and German mother in Victoria on 13 September 1969, Warne went on to play for the University of Melbourne and by 1990 had begun training at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

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The following year, Warne moved to England to represent Accrington Cricket Club, before returning to Australia to make his first-class debut for Victoria. Soon thereafter, Warne made his first appearances for Australia’s reserve national teams.

Warne’s Test debut for Australia came on 2 January 1992, and he represented the national team for 15 years, retiring from international Test cricket on 2 January 2007 – exactly 15 years after his debut.

He went on to play Twenty20 cricket until 2013, with a stint as captain of the Rajasthan Royals kickstarting that final period of his career, which ended at the Melbourne Stars.

Warne took 708 wickets in 145 Test matches throughout his career – more than any other player with the exception of Muttiah Muralitharan – and claimed five-wicket hauls in a single innings on 37 occasions. Warne also took 10 wickets in a single match on 10 occasions. He also claimed 293 One-Day dismissals in 194 matches.

Warne’s career was not free from controversies, however, with the bowler having served a one-year ban between 2003 and 2004. Warne had been sent home a day before 2003 cricket World Cup began, having tested positive for a banned diuretic during a one-day series in Australia.

Warne had three children with Simone Callahan, to whom he was married between 1995 and 2005, and the Australia international was engaged to British actress Elizabeth Hurley between 2011 and 2013, when the engagement was called off.

Following his playing career, Warne worked as a commentator and analyst.