Warne Retires Now Ashes Are Safe

If the Ashes have been an all-consuming contest for a century and more, no one has been more consumed than Shane Warne. Yesterday, in front of the massive stands at the MCG, to be filled to capacity for the Boxing Day Test, he announced his retirement from international cricket at the end of the Sydney Test.

He said only England's win in 2005 prevented him from making the decision after that series. Furthermore, if England had retained the urn this year he would have tried to wrest it back next time and the times after that, adding, if necessary, a Zimmer to his zooter. It was, he said, his "mission" to get back the urn and he will retire "a happy man". By then, unless he does himself a mischief, Warne will have become the first person to reach 700 Test wickets, probably on Boxing Day in his home town, before the largest crowd ever assembled for a cricket match in Australia (or anywhere, officially).

"A lot of people said, 'you'll know when your time is up and the time is right'," Warne said. "I doubted that, I didn't really understand what they meant. Now I know exactly what they meant. My time is now. I could not have asked for things to go any better. The script leading up to the last two matches was that I was going to retire after the Sydney Test match. I was not going to do anything ahead of the team and once we got the urn back it was going to be time to announce my retirement.

"I'm going out on my terms. It is a day of celebration. I don't think I could have asked my career to go any better. You go through various ups and downs but I never dreamt my cricket career could go as well as it has. I've been very lucky in an era of Australian cricket that's been very successful and I've had the opportunity to play with some unbelievable players, and together we've achieved some special things. The team environment with Australia has been the most enjoyable time of my life and I don't think I could have given any more. I'll probably miss it because I've missed one-day cricket in the last few years, but I know it is the right decision."

He confirmed, however, that while the Australian public have seen the last of him, he will honour the remaining two seasons of his contract with Hampshire. He has unfinished business there, he says, which means that the shrewd investor should place money on the county championship going to the Rose Bowl. What Warne sets out to do, he generally does.

Leading wicket takers


Wkts, Tests, Ave


SK Warne 699 143 25.49

M Muralitharan 674 110 21.73

GD McGrath 555 122 21.65

A Kumble 538 111 28.60

CA Walsh 519 132 24.44

Kapil Dev 434 131 29.64

RJ Hadlee 431 86 22.29

Wasim Akram 414 104 23.62

CEL Ambrose 405 98 20.99

SM Pollock 402 103 23.20