Warne captained Hampshire in 2004

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove has said the arrival of Shane Warne was the catalyst for a great decade of cricket at The Rose Bowl.

The Australian leg-spinner joined Hampshire in 2000, then returning to captain the side from 2004 -2007.

Hampshire were County Championship runners-up in 2005 and have made three Lord's finals in the last five seasons.

"Warne and Paul Terry changed the culture of the club," Bransgrove told BBC Radio Solent.

When people ask me what my high spots are, I usually say every time that it was Warne turning out in a Hampshire shirt Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove

"They established a winning culture and a fitness and training culture which had been partially lacking in the past."

Terry was brought in at the same time as Warne, and coached Hampshire for nearly five years, leading them to win the C&G Trophy in 2005.

Hampshire have a number of ex-players who have been part of the international line-up for Australia, including Shane Watson, Simon Katich and Matthew Haydn.

But for Bransgrove, it will always be Warne who is Hampshire's finest coup.

"When people ask me what my high spots are, I usually say every time that it was Warne turning out in a Hampshire shirt."

Bransgrove, a life-long fan of Hampshire, took over the club in 2001 when it was in financial difficulty.

"We were faced with a pretty difficult situation when I first came in," he said.

"There was a lot of debt, the club had really stretched itself and we had to fight fires for a while."

He added: "There was quite a team spirit developed by everyone at the rose bowl and I think its that team spirit which has bound us all so tightly together over the last nine years and its still evident here today."

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