28 Interesting Facts About Shane Warne- “The King of Spin”

If leg-spin is art then Shane Warne is the Picasso of it. Shane Warne has imparted spin bowling a charm, aggression, and style through his world-class bowling. Every cricket fan celebrates each and every wicket referring to the quality of his bowling. On 4th March, the legendary Aussie spinner Shane Warne took his last breath, but his legacy will remain intact, the legacy which has gotten claps and standing ovations. On the occasion of his heavenly journey, let’s learn about some most interesting facts about Shane Warne – “The King of Spin”. 

Interesting Facts About Shane Warne

1. Shane Keith Warne was born to german Bridgette and Keith Warne on 13th September 1969 in Victoria, Melbourne. 

2. His teammates used to call him “Warnie”, “Hollywood” & “Bakon of Baked Beans”. 

3. Shane Warne’s first professional match was for the University of Melbourne Cricket Club in the U-16 Shield competition in 1983-84. He used to bowl a mix of leg-spin and off-spin then. 

4. The spin wizard was a multi-sports person, playing a few games of Australian rules football for Saint Kilda U-19s. The standard of the game was one step below from professional level. 

5. Making his first-class debut for Victoria against Western Australia, Warne was able to scalp one wicket only. 

6. Having played just 7 first-class matches, Shane Warne played his maiden test match against India in 1992. He bagged only 1 wicket in the match for 150 runs and it was Ravi Shastri. 

7. Warne scripted history in the 1993 Australia tour by bowling the ball of the century, turning the ball from leg stump to clip the bail of the off stump of Mike Gatting. The world spectated a different level of spin bowling from a magician. 
8. The magician picked up 71 wickets in the 1993 calendar year, which was the highest by any spinner and a contemporary world record. 

9. The greatest bowler’s weight was 97 KG when he made his test debut. 

10. Despite wreaking havoc with the ball, claiming 12 wickets in the 1996 world cup, Warne had to be on the losing side as Sri Lanka beat Australia to win their first title in the final. 

11. In 1998, Cricket Australia fined Mark Waugh and Shane Warne for leaking pitch and weather reports four years earlier to an Indian bookmaker in exchange for some bribe. 

12. Shane Warne played an instrumental role for Australia in winning their 2nd World Cup title in 1999, bagging 20 wickets in 10 matches at an astonishing strike of 28.3. 

13. Due to a prohibited presence of a drug called “Diuretic” in his blood, Shane Warne was sent back home during the 2003 World Cup. 

14. During his stint with Hampshire in county cricket, Warne sent a vulgar message to a nurse in 2000, which resulted led him to losing his vice-captaincy of the national team.

15. In the first test match against New Zealand in 2000, Warne succeeded Dennis Lillie to become Australias leading wicket-taker in the test, who had 355 scalps in his name. 

16. The 2005 Ashes was the sensational series of his career, grabbing 40 wikcets in 5 matches and 227 runs with the bat.
17. The 6ft tall leggie became the first bowler to take 600 test wickets during the 2005 Ashes and along with that Warne set the record of taking the most wickets in a calendar year in test (96). 

18. On 26th December 2006, Warne made history by being the first bowler to take 700 test wickets, Andrew Strauss was his 700th victim. 

19. Warne is the 2nd highest wicket-taker in the test with 108 wickets and one of the two bowlers to have 1000+ international wickets in his name. 

20. The Aussie legend became the first captain to win an IPL trophy in 2008, defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final. 

21. Shane Warne got married to Simone Callahan in 1995 and they have three children together. The couple parted their ways in 2005. Later in 2011, the spin wizard dated English actress Elizabeth Hurley, but it didn’t last long too, got separated in 2013. 

22. The charity work was Warne’s forte too, he worked in his trust called “Shane Warne Foundation” after his retirement. His nonprofitable institution helps unprivileged and ill children. 

23. In his outstanding career too, there was a scope of the arising questions. Against India, he did not have a great record, averaging 47 with the ball. 

24. Shane Warne has scored the most international runs without a century (4172 runs in 339 matches). 

25. The magician set out for the heavenly journey on 4th March 2022, due to a heart attack at the age of 52.

26. Naming “No Spin”, Warne published his autobiography in 2018. 
27. His estimated net worth is $50 million. 

28. Warne used to wear 23 no jersey. 

Shane Warne Career Stats

Career Bowling Stat

Format	M	Inn	B	Mdn	Runs	W	BB	Econ	Avg	SR	4W	5W
Test1992–07	145	273	40705	1761	17995	708	8/71	2.65	25.4	57.5	48	37
ODI1993–05	194	191	10642	110	7541	293	5/33	4.25	25.7	36.3	12	1
1st class1991–07	301	543	74830	3030	34449	1319	8/71	2.76	26.1	56.7	78	69
List A1991–07	311	303	16419	176	11642	473	6/42	4.25	24.6	34.7	20	3
T202004–13	73	71	1548	1	1863	70	4/21	7.22	26.6	22.1	1	0

Career Batting Stats

Format	M	Inn	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s
Test1992–07	145	199	17	3154	99	17.3	5470	57.7	0	12	353	37
ODI1993–05	194	107	29	1018	55	13.1	1413	72.0	0	1	60	13
1st class1991–07	301	404	48	6919	107*	19.4	10333	–	2	26	825	109
List A1991–07	311	200	41	1879	55	11.8	2575	–	0	1	123	25
T202004–13	73	32	10	210	34*	9.5	228	92.1	0	0	15	7

Career Fielding Stats

Format	Catches	Run Outs	Stumpings
Test1992–07	125	0	0
ODI1993–05	80	7	0
1st class1991–07	264	1	0
List A1991–07	126	9	0
T202004–13	18	2	0