Shane Warne 708 Test Wickets

Lore & Background

Warne 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 he was surpassed in 2007. Warne was a useful lower-order batsman who scored more than 3,000 Test runs, with a highest score of 99. Warne was a member of the Australian team that won the 1999 Cricket World Cup. He retired from international cricket at the end of Australia's 2006–07 Ashes series victory over England. Warne published his autobiography, No Spin, in 2018. 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. During his career, Warne was involved in off-field scandals including a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, a colourful personal life and interactions with gambling figures. On 4 March 2022, Warne died of a heart attack at the age of 52, while on holiday in Thailand. After his death, many tributes and memorials were made to Warne, both in his home city of Melbourne and elsewhere in the cricketing world. Warne was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to cricket.

In Their Own Story

The dust of The Oval hangs heavy in the London air as Shane Warne stands at the top of his mark. The crowd is silent, holding its breath for the delivery that could change history. He runs in with a distinctive, slightly hunched gait, releasing the ball with perfect flight. It spins sharply, beating the bat and crashing into the stumps. As the umpire raises his finger, Warne's roar echoes across the ground—a sound of pure triumph that has defined Australian cricket for a generation.

Reader's Guide

Warne's first ball of the 1993 Ashes series, at Old Trafford, was called the 'Ball of the Century'. He bowled experienced English batsman Mike Gatting, with a ball that drifted through the air and then turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail. Warne claimed 34 wickets in his first Ashes series, leading all bowlers, at an average of 25.79. Australia won the six Test series 4–1.

Did You Know?

• Warne was born in Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, on 13 September 1969.
• According to his autobiography, when Warne was in kindergarten, another boy jumped on his back and broke both his legs.
• Warne played five games of Australian rules football for St Kilda Football Club's under-19s team in 1987.
• Warne took 7/49 in a tour match for Australia B against Zimbabwe in September 1991.
• Warne's only two first-class centuries were scored for Hampshire.