Shane Warne is a former Australian cricketer widely regraded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He brought back legspin into the cricket, which was thought to be extinct. He was selected among the five greatest cricketers of the 20th century in 2000 along with Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs, and Sir Vivien Richards.
He made his debut for Australia in 1992 and picked over 1000 wickets in international cricket, second to this milestone after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Although his career was plagued by scandals off the field, he still is regarded as one of the best bowlers to have graced the game.
He revived the nearly dying bowler's craft of leg-spinning. As a bowler, he was known to mix leg-spin with flipper and googly.
He was the first cricketer to reach 700 Test wickets and he accumulated more runs than any other Test player without making a hundred. His first ball of the 1993 Ashes series was written into the history books as the "Ball of the Century". Warne dismissed Mike Gatting on a ball that turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail. The ball must have spun at least a foot and completely outfoxing Mike Gatting.
Shane Warne Statistics
Test Career: Matches - 145
Runs - 3154, Avg. - 17.32, 100s - 0, 50s - 12, HS - 99
Wickets - 708, Avg. - 25.41, Econ - 2.65, SR - 57.4, 4WI - 48, 5WI+ -37, 10WM+ - 10, BB - 8/71, Catches - 125
ODI Matches: Matches - 194
Runs - 1018, Avg. - 13.05, 100s - 0, 50s - 1, HS - 55
Wickets - 293, Avg. - 25.73, Econ - 4.25, SR - 36.3, 4WI -12, 5WI+ - 1, BB - 5/33, Catches - 80
First Class: Matches - 301
Runs - 6919, Avg. - 19.43, 100s - 2, 50s - 26, HS - 107*
Wickets - 1319, Avg. - 26.11, Econ - 2.76, SR - 56.7, 4WI -78, 5WI+ - 69, 10WM+ - 12, BB - 8/71, Catches - 264
List A Cricket: Matches - 173
Runs - 1879, Avg. - 11.81, 100s - 0, 50s - 1, HS - 55
Wickets - 473, Avg. - 24.61, Econ - 4.25, SR - 34.7, 4WI - 20, 5WI+ - 3, BB - 6/42, Catches - 126
Twenty 20: Matches - 73
Runs - 210, Avg. - 9.54, HS - 34*, SR - 92.10
Wickets - 70, Avg. - 26.61, Econ - 7.21, SR - 22.1, 4WI - 1, 5WI+ - 0, BB - 4/21, Catches - 18