Warne's Test career begins in inauspicious fashion, with only one wicket in his debut Test against India in January 1992 aged 22 and, after going wicketless in the next match, Australia drop him for the final Test
But Warne makes a stunning impact on the Ashes, his first ball is one of the most spectacular of all time drifting, dipping and spinning prodigiously to bamboozle Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993
Warne passes 100 Test wickets in his 23rd Test as Australia beat South Africa by 191 runs at the Adelaide Oval on 1 February 1994
Warne becomes the 13th man to reach 300 Test wickets with the scalp of South Africa's Jacques Kallis in the spinner's 63rd match, at Sydney in January 1998
In 1998 it emerges that Warne and Australia team-mate Mark Waugh (far left) had accepted money from an Indian bookmaker in 1994-95 in return for information about pitches and weather at matches on their tour of India. The players are fined by the Australia Cricket Board
But there is further controversy for Warne just before the World Cup in South Africa in 2003 when he is sent home after testing positive for a banned substance and later suspended from cricket for a year
Warne's final one-day international appearance for Australia is on 25 January 2003 as they beat England at Melbourne and he finishes with 291 wickets from 193 matches
On 12 March 2004 Warne becomes the second man to reach 500 Test wickets, after West Indian Courtney Walsh, as he helps Australia to a 197-run victory over Sri Lanka in Galle in his 108th match.
Warne plays for a World XI against an Asian XI in January 2005 in aid of the Sri Lanka tsunami appeal and the match is given official international status, so his final ODI yield is 293 wickets from 194 matches
Warne's marriage to Simone is frequently tested by media allegations of his infidelity and in June 2005, they announce their separation
Back at Old Trafford, Warne captures his 600th Test wicket in his 126th Test as he dismisses Marcus Trescothick in an extraordinary Ashes series in which he finishes leading wicket-taker with 40 but England win 2-1. Warne also claims a record 96 wickets in the calendar year 2005.
Warne (second from left) captures the wicket of Monty Panesar at Perth in December 2006 that gives Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead and helps them regain the Ashes
Warne's historic 700th Test wicket comes in his 144th and penultimate Test on Boxing Day 2006 before a mammoth crowd at the magnificent Melbourne Cricket Ground, venue for the first ever Test match in 1877, and situated in his home state of Victoria
The Australians pay their tribute to Warne ahead of his final Test appearance in the Sydney Test against England in January 2006
England captain Andrew Flintoff is Warne's final Test victim, on 4 January 2007, stumped by Adam Gilchrist as the master spinner finishes with 708 wickets from 145 matches
Warne bids farewell to the Test arena having inspired Australia to a crushing 5-0 whitewash against England and finishes his illustrious career as the leading Ashes wicket-taker with 195 scalps
Warne spends five English summers in county cricket with Hampshire, and is appointed captain in 2004, but 2007 proves to be his final season as he concentrates on life outside cricket
Warne is quick to turn his competitive instincts to the world of professional poker
He also takes part in the Dunhill Links pro-celebrity golf event in Scotland, here partnered with legendary England all-rounder Sir Ian Botham
But his cricket career is still making headlines in the Indian Premier League with the Rajasthan Royals - co-owned by actress Shilpa Shetty - captaining the Jaipur-based team to the inaugural title in 2008
With freshly enhanced teeth and hair, Warne proves he is still the scourge of Englishmen even aged 41 by becoming close friends with glamorous British actress Elizabeth Hurley
- Published20 May 2011
